August 30
Jesus Christ is not valued at all until he is valued above all.
"We are called to be not the honey of the world but the salt of the earth. Salt stings on an open wound, but it also saves one from gangrene." - Donald Bloesch
After a very long and boring sermon the parishioners filed out of the church saying nothing to the preacher. Towards the end of the line was a thoughtful person who always commented on the sermons."Pastor, today your sermon reminded me of the peace and love of God."
The pastor was thrilled. "Nobody has ever said anything like that about my preaching before. Tell me why."
"Because it endured forever
- Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't. Pete Seeger
- Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because Granddaddies have only so many horsey rides in them. ~Gene Perret
- "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else!" ~Lawrence "Yogi" Berra
Laughter is like changing a baby's diaper: It doesn't permanently solve any problems, but it makes things more acceptable for awhile. --Author Unknown
At a local coffee shop, a young woman was expounding on her idea of the perfect mate to some of her friends. "The man I marry must be a shining light amongst company. He must be musical. Tell jokes. Sing. And stay home at night!"
A little old lady at the next table overheard and spoke up, "Girl, what you just described, is my computer."
Tom was so excited about his promotion to Vice-President of the company he worked for and kept bragging about it to his wife for weeks on end. Finally she couldn't take it any longer, and told him, "Listen, it means nothing, they even have a vice president of prunes at our grocery store!"
"I doubt that!" he said. Peeved, because he was not sure if this was true or not, Tom decided to call the grocery store.
A clerk answers and Tom says, "Can I please talk to the Vice-President of prunes?"
The clerk replies, "Sure, Canned or Dried?"
When we think of Church we have to think of a body of people, traveling together. We have to envision women, men, and children of all ages, races, and societies supporting one another on their long and often tiresome journeys to their final home. Henry Nouwen
I was reluctant to marry my wife because of her lack of good taste in men.
The Church is the people of God. The Latin word for "church," ecclesia, comes from the Greek ek, which means "out," and kaleo, which means "to call."
The Church is the people of God called out of slavery to freedom, sin to salvation, despair to hope, darkness to light, an existence centered on death to an existence focused on life. Henry Nouwen
Cornford's Law: Nothing is ever done until everyone is convinced that it ought to be done, and has been convinced for so long that it is now time to do something else.
"Christians don't work in order to go to heaven; they work because they are going to heaven. Arrogance and fear are replaced with gratitude and joy." - Max L. Lucado
The Shoeshine Boy - A certain downtown businessman became fond of the little boy who shined his shoes every day. He did such a good job that one day the businessman asked him, "Son, how come you are so conscientious about your work?" The boy felt complimented. He looked up to the man, and said, "Mister, I'm a Christian and I try to shine every pair of shoes as if Jesus Christ were wearing them."
The businessman saw something genuine in the shoeshine boy. Soon after that he began reading his Bible. When he decided to be a Christian himself, he credited his decision to the little boy who shined every pair of shoes "as if Jesus Christ were wearing them." That's a blessing.
The queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon, and one day she put him to the test. She brought artificial flowers so perfectly formed that no human eye could detect them from real flowers. She put them in a vase on Solomon's table, in his throne room next to his flowers. As he came in, the queen of Sheba is reported to have said, "Solomon, you are the wisest man in the world. Tell me without touching these flowers, which are real and which are artificial." It is said that Solomon studied the flowers for a long time and spoke nothing, until finally he said, "Open the windows and let the bees come in."
There are ways to tell the artificial from the real-let the bees come in; they will know where the real is. If we live with the authentic Jesus long enough, we will recognize the artificial when we see it.
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something."- --Plato
Jesus makes it clear that Clean Hearts are More Important than Clean Hands.
It is a remarkable thing that Jesus never wrote a book or drew up a creed. He was at no pains to record his own thoughts in unalterable writing, nor did he impart to his disciples a common set of articles of faith, logically and unmistakably linked together, which they were to hold and to teach. He would have little sympathy for the modern attempts to standardize the theology of men. He did not put his thoughts into articles of faith, which men must sign--he put them into actions, which men must do. His great word was not "This say," but "This do." He has not commanded us to repeat creeds, but to perform deeds; not to recite, but to do the will of the Father.
Fruits or Roots: Dr. Vance pointed out that there are two ways of investigating a tree, one by plucking the fruit it bears and tasting it-the other by digging up the tree and making a microscopic examination of its roots. "The fruit method feeds the world, the root method kills the tree. Jesus did not say, "By their roots you shall know them." He did say, "By their fruits you shall know them."
A young coed being interviewed on television about her religious beliefs said, "Oh yes, I believe in God, but I'm not nuts about Him." According to the Gallup Poll that is a good description of how most Americans feel about God. Ninety-four percent of us believe in God. When it comes to translating that belief into action, however, most of us are clearly not nuts about Him.
** Never confuse the will of the majority with the will of God. -- Charles Colson
"Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don't hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people."-- Zig Ziglar
TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY
Chocolate may contain a chemical that makes one feel loved but when it comes to comfort foods, people also like soup or mom's pot roast. That's according to a survey of 1,005 consumers, conducted by University of Illinois researchers, which found women prefer chocolate and cookies while men gravitate toward soup, pizza and pasta.
Discovering too late that a watermelon spiked with vodka had accidentally been served to a luncheon meeting of local ministers, the restaurant's owner waited nervously for the clerics' reaction.
"Quick, man," he whispered to the waiter, "what did they say?"
"Nothing," replied the waiter. "They were all too busy slipping the seeds into their pockets."
"We are called to be not the honey of the world but the salt of the earth. Salt stings on an open wound, but it also saves one from gangrene." - Donald Bloesch
After a very long and boring sermon the parishioners filed out of the church saying nothing to the preacher. Towards the end of the line was a thoughtful person who always commented on the sermons."Pastor, today your sermon reminded me of the peace and love of God."
The pastor was thrilled. "Nobody has ever said anything like that about my preaching before. Tell me why."
"Because it endured forever
- Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't. Pete Seeger
- Grandchildren don't stay young forever, which is good because Granddaddies have only so many horsey rides in them. ~Gene Perret
- "If you don't know where you are going, you will wind up somewhere else!" ~Lawrence "Yogi" Berra
Laughter is like changing a baby's diaper: It doesn't permanently solve any problems, but it makes things more acceptable for awhile. --Author Unknown
At a local coffee shop, a young woman was expounding on her idea of the perfect mate to some of her friends. "The man I marry must be a shining light amongst company. He must be musical. Tell jokes. Sing. And stay home at night!"
A little old lady at the next table overheard and spoke up, "Girl, what you just described, is my computer."
Tom was so excited about his promotion to Vice-President of the company he worked for and kept bragging about it to his wife for weeks on end. Finally she couldn't take it any longer, and told him, "Listen, it means nothing, they even have a vice president of prunes at our grocery store!"
"I doubt that!" he said. Peeved, because he was not sure if this was true or not, Tom decided to call the grocery store.
A clerk answers and Tom says, "Can I please talk to the Vice-President of prunes?"
The clerk replies, "Sure, Canned or Dried?"
When we think of Church we have to think of a body of people, traveling together. We have to envision women, men, and children of all ages, races, and societies supporting one another on their long and often tiresome journeys to their final home. Henry Nouwen
I was reluctant to marry my wife because of her lack of good taste in men.
The Church is the people of God. The Latin word for "church," ecclesia, comes from the Greek ek, which means "out," and kaleo, which means "to call."
The Church is the people of God called out of slavery to freedom, sin to salvation, despair to hope, darkness to light, an existence centered on death to an existence focused on life. Henry Nouwen
Cornford's Law: Nothing is ever done until everyone is convinced that it ought to be done, and has been convinced for so long that it is now time to do something else.
"Christians don't work in order to go to heaven; they work because they are going to heaven. Arrogance and fear are replaced with gratitude and joy." - Max L. Lucado
The Shoeshine Boy - A certain downtown businessman became fond of the little boy who shined his shoes every day. He did such a good job that one day the businessman asked him, "Son, how come you are so conscientious about your work?" The boy felt complimented. He looked up to the man, and said, "Mister, I'm a Christian and I try to shine every pair of shoes as if Jesus Christ were wearing them."
The businessman saw something genuine in the shoeshine boy. Soon after that he began reading his Bible. When he decided to be a Christian himself, he credited his decision to the little boy who shined every pair of shoes "as if Jesus Christ were wearing them." That's a blessing.
The queen of Sheba came to visit Solomon, and one day she put him to the test. She brought artificial flowers so perfectly formed that no human eye could detect them from real flowers. She put them in a vase on Solomon's table, in his throne room next to his flowers. As he came in, the queen of Sheba is reported to have said, "Solomon, you are the wisest man in the world. Tell me without touching these flowers, which are real and which are artificial." It is said that Solomon studied the flowers for a long time and spoke nothing, until finally he said, "Open the windows and let the bees come in."
There are ways to tell the artificial from the real-let the bees come in; they will know where the real is. If we live with the authentic Jesus long enough, we will recognize the artificial when we see it.
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something."- --Plato
Jesus makes it clear that Clean Hearts are More Important than Clean Hands.
It is a remarkable thing that Jesus never wrote a book or drew up a creed. He was at no pains to record his own thoughts in unalterable writing, nor did he impart to his disciples a common set of articles of faith, logically and unmistakably linked together, which they were to hold and to teach. He would have little sympathy for the modern attempts to standardize the theology of men. He did not put his thoughts into articles of faith, which men must sign--he put them into actions, which men must do. His great word was not "This say," but "This do." He has not commanded us to repeat creeds, but to perform deeds; not to recite, but to do the will of the Father.
Fruits or Roots: Dr. Vance pointed out that there are two ways of investigating a tree, one by plucking the fruit it bears and tasting it-the other by digging up the tree and making a microscopic examination of its roots. "The fruit method feeds the world, the root method kills the tree. Jesus did not say, "By their roots you shall know them." He did say, "By their fruits you shall know them."
A young coed being interviewed on television about her religious beliefs said, "Oh yes, I believe in God, but I'm not nuts about Him." According to the Gallup Poll that is a good description of how most Americans feel about God. Ninety-four percent of us believe in God. When it comes to translating that belief into action, however, most of us are clearly not nuts about Him.
** Never confuse the will of the majority with the will of God. -- Charles Colson
"Life is too short to spend your precious time trying to convince a person who wants to live in gloom and doom otherwise. Give lifting that person your best shot, but don't hang around long enough for his or her bad attitude to pull you down. Instead, surround yourself with optimistic people."-- Zig Ziglar
TODAY'S UPLIFTING STORY
Chocolate may contain a chemical that makes one feel loved but when it comes to comfort foods, people also like soup or mom's pot roast. That's according to a survey of 1,005 consumers, conducted by University of Illinois researchers, which found women prefer chocolate and cookies while men gravitate toward soup, pizza and pasta.
Discovering too late that a watermelon spiked with vodka had accidentally been served to a luncheon meeting of local ministers, the restaurant's owner waited nervously for the clerics' reaction.
"Quick, man," he whispered to the waiter, "what did they say?"
"Nothing," replied the waiter. "They were all too busy slipping the seeds into their pockets."
posted by joypastordon at 3:28 PM
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