November 22
F + 0 = E. L.
Faith plus nothing equals Eternal Life - Jere Briggs
God does not always change circumstances, but he may often change us.
Question: So How Do I Live As A Child of the King.. it’s a complex question? Perhaps this quote by Mother Teresa says it best:
“By blood and origin, I am all Albanian. My citizenship is Indian. I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the whole world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to Jesus.”
If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain
"When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take -- choose the bolder." -- William Joseph Slim
"Someone once asked me what I want on my epitaph when I pass away. Just the words - 'I tried.' That's what this game of life is all about. Trying. There's the tryers, the criers, and the liars." -- Mickey Rooney
"Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind, and the ones who mind, don't matter."
"The future belongs to the risk-takers, not the comfort-seekers." -- Brian Tracy
"My wife suggested a book for me to read to enhance our relationship. It's titled: 'Women are from Venus, Men are Wrong.'"
The strong forgive, the weak remember. -- Ecuadorian Proverb
Holiday Giving - According to new study results soon to be released from Harris Interactive®, more than three out of four U.S. adults would prefer to receive a meaningful gift this holiday season that would help someone else instead of a traditional gift like clothing or electronics. The study was commissioned by World Vision® among 1,001 adults from October 29 to November 1.
The new survey on charitable giving also concluded that nearly half of U.S. adults (49%) would be more likely to give a "charitable gift" as a holiday present this year. "That finding reveals our charitable culture at work," said Justin Greeves, senior vice president of public affairs and policy research at Harris Interactive.
Additionally, the study showed that, this year, around six out of ten adults (57%) said they will spend less money on holiday presents and almost three out of four (74%) plan to increase their charitable giving once the economy improves. [ChristianPost.com]
"Fear imprisons, Faith liberates;
Fear paralyzes, Faith empowers;
Fear disheartens, Faith encourages;
Fear sickens, Faith heals;
Fear makes useless, Faith makes serviceable;
And most of all, Fear puts hopelessness at the heart of life, while Faith rejoices in it's God." - Henry Emerson Fosdick
The awareness of being part of the communion of saints makes our hearts as wide as the world. The love with which we love is not just our love; it is the love of Jesus and his saints living in us. When the Spirit of Jesus lives in our hearts, all who have lived their lives in that Spirit live there too. Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents; our teachers and their teachers; our pastors and their pastors; our spiritual guides and theirs - all the holy men and women who form that long line of love through history - are part of our hearts, where the Spirit of Jesus chooses to dwell.
The communion of saints is not just a network of connections between people. It is first and foremost the community of our hearts.
Judge Judy has a yearly salary of $7.8 million. The Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court has a yearly salary of $181, 400. - Forbes Mag
My busy mother sometimes accidentally left pots and pans on the stove with the burners on, so she resorted to posting this reminder on the kitchen door: "STOVE?"
My sister, back from college, noticed Mother's sign. Beneath it she taped her reply: "No -- DOOR! Trust me. I went to college."
"Man, despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and many accomplishments, owes the fact of his existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."
"He who has begun has half done. Dare to be wise--begin!" - Horace
"I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my ideas." - Albert Einstein
"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs ... one step at a time."
"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm." - Vince Lombard
How to tell if you're celebrating a Redneck Thanksgiving If...
- You've ever had Thanksgiving dinner on a Ping-Pong table.
- Thanksgiving dinner is squirrel and dumplings.
- You've ever re-used a paper plate.
- You have a complete set of salad bowls and they all say 'Cool Whip' on the side.
- You've ever used your ironing board as a buffet table.
- Your turkey platter is an old hub cap.
- Your only condiment on the dining room table is ketchup.
- Side dishes include beef jerky and Moon Pies.
- You consider pork and beans to be a gourmet food.
- You have an Elvis Jell-o mold.
- You serve Vienna Sausage as an appetizer.
Billy Graham and Oprah
A couple of years I watched Billy Graham being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on television. Oprah told him that in her childhood home, she used to watch him preach on a little black and white TV while sitting on a linoleum floor.
She went on to the tell viewers that in his lifetime Billy has preached to twenty-million people around the world, not to mention the countless numbers who have heard him whenever his crusades are broadcast. When she asked if he got nervous before facing a crowd, Billy replied humbly, "No, I don't get nervous before crowds, but I did today before I was going to meet with you."
Oprah's show is broadcast to twenty-million people every day. She is comfortable with famous stars and celebrities but seemed in awe of Dr. Billy Graham.
When the interview ended, she told the audience, "You don't often see this on my show, but we're going to pray." Then she asked Billy to close in prayer. The camera panned the studio audience as they bowed their heads and closed their eyes just like in one of his crusades.
Oprah sang the first line from the song that is his hallmark "Just as I am, without a plea," misreading the line and singing off key, but her voice was full of emotion and almost cracked.
When Billy stood up after the show, instead of hugging her guest, Oprah's usual custom, she went over and just nestled against him. Billy wrapped his arm around her and pulled her under his shoulder. She stood in his fatherly embrace with a look of sheer contentment.
I once read the book "Nestle, Don't Wrestle" by Corrie Ten Boom. The power of nestling was evident on the TV screen that day. Billy Graham was not the least bit condemning, distant, nor hesitant to embrace a public personality who may not fit the evangelistic mold. His grace and courage are sometimes stunning.
In an interview with Hugh Downs, on the 20/20 program, the subject turned to homosexuality. Hugh looked directly at Billy and said, "If you had a homosexual child, would you love him?" Billy didn't miss a beat. He replied with sincerity and gentleness, "Why, I would love that one even more."
The title of Billy's autobiography, "Just As I Am," says it all. His life goes before him speaking as eloquently as that charming southern drawl for which he is known.
If, when I am eighty years old, my autobiography were to be titled "Just As I Am," I wonder how I would live now? Do I have the courage to be me? I'll never be a Billy Graham, the elegant man who draws people to the Lord through a simple one-point message, but I hope to be a person who is real and compassionate and who might draw people to nestle within God's embrace.
Do you make it a point to speak to a visitor or person who shows up alone at church, buy a hamburger for a homeless man, call your mother on Sunday afternoons, pick daisies with a little girl, or take a fatherless boy to a baseball game?
Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you look when you're looking for what's beautiful in someone else?
Billy complimented Oprah when asked what he was most thankful for; he said, "Salvation given to us in Jesus Christ" then added, "and the way you have made people all over this country aware of the power of being grateful."
When asked his secret of love, being married fifty-four years to the same person, he said, "Ruth and I are happily incompatible."
How unexpected. We would all live more comfortably with everybody around us if we would find the strength in being grateful and happily incompatible.
Let's take the things that set us apart, that make us different, that cause us to disagree, and make them an occasion to compliment each other and be thankful for each other. Let us be big enough to be smaller than our neighbor, spouse, friends, and strangers.
Every day, may we Nestle, not Wrestle!
Faith plus nothing equals Eternal Life - Jere Briggs
God does not always change circumstances, but he may often change us.
Question: So How Do I Live As A Child of the King.. it’s a complex question? Perhaps this quote by Mother Teresa says it best:
“By blood and origin, I am all Albanian. My citizenship is Indian. I am a Catholic nun. As to my calling, I belong to the whole world. As to my heart, I belong entirely to Jesus.”
If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." -- Mark Twain
"When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take -- choose the bolder." -- William Joseph Slim
"Someone once asked me what I want on my epitaph when I pass away. Just the words - 'I tried.' That's what this game of life is all about. Trying. There's the tryers, the criers, and the liars." -- Mickey Rooney
"Always be yourself because the people that matter don't mind, and the ones who mind, don't matter."
"The future belongs to the risk-takers, not the comfort-seekers." -- Brian Tracy
"My wife suggested a book for me to read to enhance our relationship. It's titled: 'Women are from Venus, Men are Wrong.'"
The strong forgive, the weak remember. -- Ecuadorian Proverb
Holiday Giving - According to new study results soon to be released from Harris Interactive®, more than three out of four U.S. adults would prefer to receive a meaningful gift this holiday season that would help someone else instead of a traditional gift like clothing or electronics. The study was commissioned by World Vision® among 1,001 adults from October 29 to November 1.
The new survey on charitable giving also concluded that nearly half of U.S. adults (49%) would be more likely to give a "charitable gift" as a holiday present this year. "That finding reveals our charitable culture at work," said Justin Greeves, senior vice president of public affairs and policy research at Harris Interactive.
Additionally, the study showed that, this year, around six out of ten adults (57%) said they will spend less money on holiday presents and almost three out of four (74%) plan to increase their charitable giving once the economy improves. [ChristianPost.com]
"Fear imprisons, Faith liberates;
Fear paralyzes, Faith empowers;
Fear disheartens, Faith encourages;
Fear sickens, Faith heals;
Fear makes useless, Faith makes serviceable;
And most of all, Fear puts hopelessness at the heart of life, while Faith rejoices in it's God." - Henry Emerson Fosdick
The awareness of being part of the communion of saints makes our hearts as wide as the world. The love with which we love is not just our love; it is the love of Jesus and his saints living in us. When the Spirit of Jesus lives in our hearts, all who have lived their lives in that Spirit live there too. Our parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents; our teachers and their teachers; our pastors and their pastors; our spiritual guides and theirs - all the holy men and women who form that long line of love through history - are part of our hearts, where the Spirit of Jesus chooses to dwell.
The communion of saints is not just a network of connections between people. It is first and foremost the community of our hearts.
Judge Judy has a yearly salary of $7.8 million. The Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court has a yearly salary of $181, 400. - Forbes Mag
My busy mother sometimes accidentally left pots and pans on the stove with the burners on, so she resorted to posting this reminder on the kitchen door: "STOVE?"
My sister, back from college, noticed Mother's sign. Beneath it she taped her reply: "No -- DOOR! Trust me. I went to college."
"Man, despite his artistic pretensions, his sophistication, and many accomplishments, owes the fact of his existence to a six-inch layer of topsoil and the fact that it rains."
"He who has begun has half done. Dare to be wise--begin!" - Horace
"I know quite certainly that I myself have no special talent; curiosity, obsession and dogged endurance, combined with self-criticism, have brought me to my ideas." - Albert Einstein
"The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs ... one step at a time."
"If you aren't fired with enthusiasm, you will be fired with enthusiasm." - Vince Lombard
How to tell if you're celebrating a Redneck Thanksgiving If...
- You've ever had Thanksgiving dinner on a Ping-Pong table.
- Thanksgiving dinner is squirrel and dumplings.
- You've ever re-used a paper plate.
- You have a complete set of salad bowls and they all say 'Cool Whip' on the side.
- You've ever used your ironing board as a buffet table.
- Your turkey platter is an old hub cap.
- Your only condiment on the dining room table is ketchup.
- Side dishes include beef jerky and Moon Pies.
- You consider pork and beans to be a gourmet food.
- You have an Elvis Jell-o mold.
- You serve Vienna Sausage as an appetizer.
Billy Graham and Oprah
A couple of years I watched Billy Graham being interviewed by Oprah Winfrey on television. Oprah told him that in her childhood home, she used to watch him preach on a little black and white TV while sitting on a linoleum floor.
She went on to the tell viewers that in his lifetime Billy has preached to twenty-million people around the world, not to mention the countless numbers who have heard him whenever his crusades are broadcast. When she asked if he got nervous before facing a crowd, Billy replied humbly, "No, I don't get nervous before crowds, but I did today before I was going to meet with you."
Oprah's show is broadcast to twenty-million people every day. She is comfortable with famous stars and celebrities but seemed in awe of Dr. Billy Graham.
When the interview ended, she told the audience, "You don't often see this on my show, but we're going to pray." Then she asked Billy to close in prayer. The camera panned the studio audience as they bowed their heads and closed their eyes just like in one of his crusades.
Oprah sang the first line from the song that is his hallmark "Just as I am, without a plea," misreading the line and singing off key, but her voice was full of emotion and almost cracked.
When Billy stood up after the show, instead of hugging her guest, Oprah's usual custom, she went over and just nestled against him. Billy wrapped his arm around her and pulled her under his shoulder. She stood in his fatherly embrace with a look of sheer contentment.
I once read the book "Nestle, Don't Wrestle" by Corrie Ten Boom. The power of nestling was evident on the TV screen that day. Billy Graham was not the least bit condemning, distant, nor hesitant to embrace a public personality who may not fit the evangelistic mold. His grace and courage are sometimes stunning.
In an interview with Hugh Downs, on the 20/20 program, the subject turned to homosexuality. Hugh looked directly at Billy and said, "If you had a homosexual child, would you love him?" Billy didn't miss a beat. He replied with sincerity and gentleness, "Why, I would love that one even more."
The title of Billy's autobiography, "Just As I Am," says it all. His life goes before him speaking as eloquently as that charming southern drawl for which he is known.
If, when I am eighty years old, my autobiography were to be titled "Just As I Am," I wonder how I would live now? Do I have the courage to be me? I'll never be a Billy Graham, the elegant man who draws people to the Lord through a simple one-point message, but I hope to be a person who is real and compassionate and who might draw people to nestle within God's embrace.
Do you make it a point to speak to a visitor or person who shows up alone at church, buy a hamburger for a homeless man, call your mother on Sunday afternoons, pick daisies with a little girl, or take a fatherless boy to a baseball game?
Did anyone ever tell you how beautiful you look when you're looking for what's beautiful in someone else?
Billy complimented Oprah when asked what he was most thankful for; he said, "Salvation given to us in Jesus Christ" then added, "and the way you have made people all over this country aware of the power of being grateful."
When asked his secret of love, being married fifty-four years to the same person, he said, "Ruth and I are happily incompatible."
How unexpected. We would all live more comfortably with everybody around us if we would find the strength in being grateful and happily incompatible.
Let's take the things that set us apart, that make us different, that cause us to disagree, and make them an occasion to compliment each other and be thankful for each other. Let us be big enough to be smaller than our neighbor, spouse, friends, and strangers.
Every day, may we Nestle, not Wrestle!
posted by joypastordon at 9:29 PM
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