joypastordon

August 8

2010-08-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

Too many Christians are no longer fishers of men but keepers of the aquarium.

The more the world whips around us, the deeper we must drive the stake of God into the ground of our soul.

Every morning when you get up, refuse to dwell on what you did wrong the day before. Refuse to dwell on yesterday's disappointments.
Get up each day knowing that God is a loving and forgiving God, and he has great things in store for you.

If you make your church important, it is quite likely to return the favor.

Many people go to church praying that they will hear preaching that will hit someone else.

A church without a purpose is like a house without a door - it has no reason to exist.

"Cured ham? No thanks, pal. Cured of what? What if it has a relapse on my plate?

The church is not made up of people who are better than the rest, but of people who are trying to become better than they are.

My young grandson called the other day to wish me Happy Birthday. He asked me how old I was, and I told him, "60."
He was quiet for a moment, and then he asked, "Did you start at 1?"

It is impossible for you and me to shine as lights in the world as long as we have our hearts focused on fear, or doubt God’s ability to save. As long as I am worried about anything, I’m not very likely to be shining very brightly for Jesus Christ. --Rocky Henriques

Knowing What The Saddle Is For (By Rocky Henriques)
We're told that it is a very frightening experience for a wild horse to feel a saddle on his back for the first time. Some horses react with anger. They rear back and kick and struggle to get away. Their nostrils flare, their eyeballs roll back, and panic takes over. But other horses are so afraid that they can't move. They just stand in one spot as though frozen, shaking and trembling like a leaf on a tree.
Many Christians are just like that. Take a good look at yourself. When something unpleasant or threatening happens, do you react with anger, lashing out at other people, even at God? Perhaps something has occurred which you cannot control or change, and you're so angry about it that you are determined someone is going to pay for your discomfort. You say, "God, You did this to me!" or you ask, "God, why did You let this happen?" Or do you react with such fear that you are essentially immobilized? You're afraid to step one way or the other, thinking that if you do anything you'll make a fatal mistake?
The mature Christian, the one who is constantly growing in Christ, can be compared to a horse which has learned to trust his trainer, and knows what the saddle is for. He knows that when the saddle of trouble and difficulty is suddenly thrust upon him, it is there for a purpose. That purpose may be known only to our Heavenly Father, but as long as He knows it, the mature Christian doesn't kick and rebel.

How to Solve Your Physical Problems.
Yesterday I went to the doctor for my yearly physical. My blood pressure was high, my cholesterol was high, I'd gained some weight, and I didn't feel so hot.
My doctor said eating right doesn't have to be complicated and it would solve my physical problems. He said just think in colors; Fill your plate with bright colors; greens, yellows, reds, etc.
I went right home and ate an entire bowl of M&M's and sure enough, I felt better immediately. I never knew eating right could be so easy

A grandmother was telling her little granddaughter what her own childhood was like: "We used to skate outside on a pond. I had a swing made from a tire; it hung from a tree in our front yard. We rode our pony. We picked wild raspberries in the woods." The little girl was wide-eyed, taking this in. At last she said, "I sure wish I'd gotten to know you sooner!"
A little girl was diligently pounding away on her grandfather's computer. She told him she was writing a story. "What's it about?" he asked.
"I don't know," she replied. "I can't read."

I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me, and always she was correct. But it was fun for me, so I continued. At last she headed for the door, saying sagely, "Grandma, I think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!"

A West Virginia state trooper stopped a woman for going 15 miles over the speed limit. After he handed her a ticket, she asked him, "Don't you give out warnings?" "Yes, ma'am," he replied. "They're all up and down the road. They say, 'Speed Limit 55.' "

Summer Break was over and the teacher was asking the class about their vacations. She turned to little Johnny and asked what he did over the break.
"We visited my grandmother in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania," he replied.
"That sounds like an excellent vocabulary word," the teacher said. "Can you tell the class how you spell that?"
Little Johnny thought about it and said, "You know, come to think of it, we went to Ohio."
DETERMINATION
"Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you." -- Denis Waitley

"Just don't give up trying to do what you really want to do. Where there is love and inspiration, I don't think you can go wrong." -- Ella Fitzgerald

"I never failed once. It just happened to be a 2000l-step process." -- Thomas A. Edison

"It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. IF you think about that, you'll do things differently." -- Warren Buffett

"All of us are entitled to our own opinions, but not our own facts." - Daniel Moynihan, former U.S. senator

"On cable TV they have a weather channel – 24 hours of weather. We had something like that where I grew up. We called it a window." - Dan Spencer

"I know God won't give me more than I can handle. I just wish he didn't trust me so much." - Mother Theresa

"Any married man should forget his mistakes, there's no use in two people remembering the same thing." "Freedom of speech is wonderful - right up there with the freedom not to listen"

"A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have." -- Gerald Rudolph Ford

"The person who upsets you the most is your best teacher, because they bring you face to face with who you are." -- Lynn Andrews

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men." -- Martin Luther King Jr.

"Character, in the long-run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike." – Theodore Roosevelt

"The problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by obvious realities. We need men and women who can dream of things that never were." -- John F. Kennedy

"If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it will always be yours. If it doesn't come back, it was never yours to begin with. But, if it just sits in your living room, messes up your stuff, eats your food, uses your telephone, takes your money, and doesn't appear to realize that you had set it free....... You either married it or gave birth to it"

A song can often touch people in a way that a sermon can't. Music can bypass intellectual barriers and take the message straight to the heart

God has to push us out into some new place of difficulty in order to develop our faith and show us what He can do for us and through us. You will never know how God can use you until you venture upon Him and attempt more than you are equal to in your own strength and resources. --A. B. Simpson

August 1

2010-08-12T22:50:00.000-07:00

The only thing of value we can give kids is what we are, not what we have.

John D. Rockefeller's three simple rules for anyone who wants to become rich:
1. Go to work early. 2. Stay at work late. 3. Find oil.

"In today's modern times, one out of every three people lives on less than $2 a day - 2.4 billion people total. That's impossible to comprehend. If a third of the world cannot afford one cup of Starbucks a day, that should matter to Christians." - The Green Bible (HarperOne, 2010)

"Life is too short to waste. Dreams are fulfilled only through action, not through endless planning to take action." -- David J. Schwartz

JOY 9
"The real battle is about whether God is Lord, or whether government is Lord. And make no mistake, if government can redefine or restrict our freedom of religion, our first freedom will be gone. And, as our Founders understood, when that freedom is gone, we will, in short order, lose the other freedoms as well." -- Chuck Colson

"It's not what you do once in a while; it's what you do day in and day out that makes the difference." -- Jenny Craig

"I love the man who can smile in trouble, gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection." -- Thomas Paine

"If I had to pick the No.1 key to success, it would be ... self-discipline." -- Brian Tracy

"No stream or gas drives anything until it is confined. No Niagara is ever turned into light and power until it is tunneled. No life ever grows great until it is focused, dedicated and disciplined." -- Harry E. Fosdick

"The secret of getting ahead is getting started." -- Agatha Christie

"Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future." -- Paul Boese

One Sunday morning when my son, David, was about 5, we were attending a church in our community. It was common for the preacher to invite the children to the front of the church and have a small lesson before beginning the sermon. He would bring in an item they could find around the house and relate it to a teaching from the Bible.
This particular morning, the visual aid for his lesson was a smoke detector. He asked the children if anyone knew what it meant when an alarm sounded from the smoke detector.
My child immediately raised his hand and said, "It means Daddy's cooking dinner."

Don't expect wisdom to come into your life like great chunks of rock on a conveyor belt. It isn't like that. It's not splashy and bold . . . nor is it dispensed like a prescription across a counter. Wisdom comes privately from God as a by-product of right decisions, godly reactions, and the application of spiritual principles to daily circumstances. Wisdom comes .
. . not from trying to do great things for God . . . but more from being faithful to the small, obscure tasks few people ever see. -- Charles R. Swindoll

Look back. Do you see God's hand working in your life? Remember the times when you dared to trust Him and you were not disappointed. Remember the times you thought you could not survive . . . but you did. Remember the times you thought you knew better . . . but now you see that His way would have been the right way. Can you see even those times when God was working on your behalf before you ever came to Him? --Rocky Henriques

Let us learn to be deliberate in our prayers. Many people pour out a reckless mass of ill-considered supplications much like a child blowing bubbles into the air, scarcely expecting to see them again.--A. B. Simpson

JOY 10
The Nature and Nuture of the Soul The soul of a person is the most important aspect of his being, more valuable than any amount of material luxuries or benefits. Caring for and nurturing the soul is the most important work in which any Christian can be involved.
That work begins in understanding the unique composition of the soul. The soul consists of three spiritual components - the heart, the mind, and the conscience. Of the three, the heart is the starting-point, the fount of all existence, the animating and guiding element of the soul. Our understanding of the soul, as well as the proper care of it, must begin with the heart. The heart is the heart of the matter when it comes to spiritual development and the nurture of the soul.
While the heart is frequently indicated as a source of intellectual activity (cf. Matt. 9:4), its primary role is to engender the affections that guide our lives. "Affections" are those strong inclinations that arise from within us and provide the motive power for all our existence. They include such powerful sentiments as love and hate, desire, revulsion, compassion, zeal, delight, longing, joy, and hope. As Jonathan Edwards explained in his classic work, A Treatise on Religious Affections, affections are of two sorts. First are those affections which incline us toward something - love, zeal, joy, enthusiasm, and so forth. On the other hand, there are those affections which cause us to move away from something - revulsion, anger, indifference, hatred. Both kinds of affections are valid and important, but they must be properly focused and continually monitored and re-invigorated if they are to serve us well. The challenge is always to make sure that our affections are properly engaged and that we are not being led astray in any way. Jeremiah reminds us that the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked by nature (Jer. 17:9); left to itself, it will always incline us away from a Godly lifestyle and seek out the corridors of wickedness and sin. The proper nurture of our soul requires that we understand each of the affections and how God intends them to be focused, and then to put and keep in place all the affections in their proper function, and with their proper intensity. Here is a challenge that must occupy the believer throughout his life.
We may experience times of unusual closeness, when every prayer is answered in an obvious way and God seems intimate and caring. And we may also experience "fog times," when God stays silent, when nothing works according to formula and all the Bible's promises seem glaringly false. Fidelity involves learning to trust that, out beyond the perimeter of fog, God still reigns and has not abandoned us, no matter how it appears.
-- Philip Yancey

If your manna has to drop straight from heaven looking like a perfect loaf of butter-crust bread, then chances are you are going to go hungry a lot. --Barbara Brown Taylor

"For peace of mind, we need to resign as general manager of the universe." -- Larry
Eisenberg

Three Kinds of Givers
There are three kinds of givers: the flint, the sponge, and the honeycomb. Which kind are you? To get anything from the flint, you must hammer it. Yet, all you get are chips and sparks. The flint gives nothing away if it can help it, and even then only with a great display. To get anything from the sponge, you must squeeze it. It readily yields to pressure and the more it is pressed, the more it gives. Still, one has to squeeze it. To get anything from the honeycomb, however, one must only take what freely flows from it. It gives its sweetness generously, dripping on all without pressure, without begging or badgering. The honeycomb is a renewable resource. Unlike the flint or the sponge, the honeycomb is connected to life; it is the product of the ongoing work and creative energy of bees. If you share like a honeycomb giver your life will be continually replenished and grow as you give.
When we share we freely give and we acknowledge that all we have is on loan and others have as much right to the things of God’s creation as we do.

Making the Situation Worse
When I was a kid, I was often ravaged by poison ivy. The key to poison ivy, once you have it, is not to scratch. Restraining yourself is hard, for your skin itches and you want relief. But scratching only makes poison ivy worse.
Greed works the same way. We get infected, and we want to scratch, although we know we shouldn't do so. Possessing more and more promises relief, but only makes the situation worse. We keep scratching, but it's no solution.
Jesus issues a warning, a warning inspired by a squabble over inheritance, but one that all of us need to hear. He says: "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one's life does not consist in the abundance of possessions."
Clarence Jordan's translation of this verse brings out its original earthiness. Here's what Jesus says according to Jordan: "You all be careful and stay on your guard against all kinds of greediness. For a person's life is not for the piling up of possessions."
In these few words, Jesus rejects much of what keeps our society humming. He warns us against greed, avarice, the desire to possess more than we need, more than we can use, more than we want. Charles Hoffacker, Avarice: The Disease and Its Cure

Thoughts On Advertising
- Advertising is the fine art of convincing people that debt is better than frustration.
- Advertising helps raise the standard of living by raising the standard of longing.
- One of life's biggest disappointments is discovering that the person who writes the ads for the bank is not the one who makes the loans.
- An ad executive's career: Yes sir, No sir, Ulcer.
- If you think advertising doesn't work, consider the millions of people who now think that yogurt tastes good.
- You can tell the ideals of a nation by its advertisements.
- Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. The trouble is, I don't know which half.

Rich in Things, Poor in Soul
This is how I see our situation today: We’re killing ourselves on junk food – we watch mindless drivel on TV with vulgar displays of sexuality and horrific scenes of violence; we listen to endless chatter on the radio with never-ending conflict and criticism; we chase after every conceivable form of entertainment and pleasure; all the while, coming up empty and, ironically, craving for more.
We’re like children in a video arcade – no matter how many quarters or tokens you give them, when the last game’s over, they always ask for “just one more.” There’s no end to it. In the words of Harry Emerson Fosdick, we’re “rich in things and poor in soul.”
What’s the answer? The answer is that we need to get back to the basics and re-establish our priorities. In a word, we need to put God first. We need to follow the Great Commandment, to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mt. 22:37-39) It’s as simple as that: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Mt. 6:33)

"To really know a man, observe his behavior with a woman, a flat tire and a child." - Unknown

Someone asked John D. Rockefeller (of all people) "How much wealth does it take to satisfy a person?" He replied, "Just a little bit more." The Romans had a proverb: "Money is like sea water; the more you drink, the thirstier you become."

"A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for." - William Shedd

July 25

2010-08-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

THE ABCs OF GOD'S SALVATION
A = All have sinned.
B = Behold he Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
C = Come to Christ for peace, pardon, and eternal life.

"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." - Plato

"Recovery is a process, not an event." - Unknown

"It is not a question of whether you 'have what it takes,' but of whether you take the gifts you have--they are plenteous--and share them with all the world." - Neale Donald Walsch

"What is the difference between an obstacle and an opportunity? Our attitude toward it. Every opportunity has a difficulty, and every difficulty has an opportunity." - J. Sidlow Baxter

"We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated." - Maya Angelou

"If people knew how hard I worked to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem so wonderful." - Michelangelo

"Great men say, 'Life has to be an incessant process of repair and reconstruction, of discarding evil and developing goodness. In the journey of life, if you want to travel without fear, you must have the ticket of a good conscience.'" - Unknown

"Our souls are not hungry for fame, comfort, wealth, or power. Those rewards create almost as many problems as they solve. Our souls are hungry for meaning, for the sense that we have figured out how to live so our lives matter, so the world will be at least a little bit different for our having passed through it."

Lance Briggs during the offseason after the Chicago Bears offered him $7.2 million to occupy 16 of his Sundays playing football: "I've played my last snap for them. I'll never play another down for Chicago again." He signed with the Bears on Wednesday for $7.2 million.

"If genius is one percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration, I wind up sharing elevators with a lot of bright people." - Unknown

Why don't you ever see the headline: "PSYCHIC WINS LOTTERY"?

Be as patient with others as God has been with you.
Enthusiasm for Christ is contagious -- has anyone caught it from you?
Those who walk with God won't run from people's needs.
When you find yourself far from God, remember it is not He that moved.
When God calls 'Time', the game is over. Which exit will you take?
Experts made the Titanic. Amateurs made the ark.
God doesn't need great men. Great men need God.
Visitors aren't just welcome. They are expected.
Give your troubles to God. He's up all night anyway.
You learn to walk by starting on your knees.
God answers knee mail.

The Joy of Life
The adventure of life is to learn.
The purpose of life is to grow.
The nature of life is to change.
The challenge of life is to overcome.
The essence of life is to care.
The opportunity of life is to serve.
The secret of life is to dare.
The spice of life is to befriend.
The beauty of life is to give.
The joy of life is to love.

Football players at the high school were stealing the practice jerseys, so the coach ordered a set with "Property of Central High School" emblazoned on them.
When the thefts continued, he ordered a new batch that had the imprint "Stolen From Central High School." But the jerseys still kept disappearing.
The larceny finally stopped after he changed the wording to "Central High School 4th String."

A mother sent her fifth grade boy up to bed. In a few minutes she went to make sure that he was getting in bed. When she stuck her head into his room, she saw that he was kneeling beside his bed in prayer. Pausing to listen to his prayers, she heard her son praying over and over again. "Let it be Tokyo! Please dear God, let it be Tokyo!"
When he finished his prayers, she asked him, "What did you mean, 'Let it be Tokyo'?"
"Oh," the boy said with embarrassment, "we had our geography exam today and I was praying that God would make Tokyo the capital of France."
Prayer is not a magical means by which we get God to do what we want. Prayer is an inner openness to God which allows his divine power to be released in us. Ultimately, the power of prayer is not that we succeed in changing God, but that God succeeds in changing us.

An exasperated mother, whose son was always getting into mischief, finally asked him, "How do you expect to get into Heaven?"
The boy thought it over and said, "Well, I'll run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door until St. Peter says, 'For Heaven's sake, Dylan, come in or stay out!'"

"Alter your attitude and you can alter your life."

"You can't risk what you don't have and you can't have what you won't risk for."

"Just because a man lacks the use of his eyes doesn't mean he lacks vision." -- Stevie Wonder

The children of Israel wandered around the desert for 40years. Even in biblical times, men wouldn't ask for directions.

One hour of eternity, one moment with the Lord, will make us utterly forget a lifetime of desolations. --Horatio Bonar

July 18

2010-08-12T22:46:00.000-07:00

All of us have wondered at times why God doesn't do more to fix our problems. But our human eyes often fail to see that God isn't rushing to change our circumstances because he is concerned with a much more serious problem--our character. While you struggle with the woes of this world, God's main occupation is preparing you for the world to come. The focus of what God is doing in your life takes place in you, not around you. -- Andy Stanley, "Like A Rock"
"Worry looks around, sorry looks back, Faith looks up." No doubt it sounds strange, but in order to love God with all your strength, you have to admit that you are weak and that your strength is limited. By doing this, you acknowledge God as the true source of your strength, and that in your weakness, he is strong. You become strong as you become totally dependent upon him, allowing his strength to work through you. God doesn’t ask you to take steps of faith alone; he is with you in every step, filling you with a grace-charged strength. God only asks you to take one step of faith at a time.

Sweatshirt with Pigpen from Charlie Brown on it with the saying: “The world needs messy people ... Otherwise the neat people would take over.”
"Nothing shows a man's character more than what he laughs at." -- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
"When you have a purpose in life, a vision for what you want to achieve, and know why you want to achieve it, work becomes fun, and the time you spend working seems to just whiz by." -- Clayton J. Moore

"One man practicing sportsmanship is better than a hundred teaching it." -- Knute Rockne

"What a man is contributes much more to his happiness than what he has." -- Arthur Schopenhauer

"Don't wait until the storm passes over, learn to dance in the rain." -- Unknown

"Courage is like a muscle. We strengthen it with use." -- Ruth Gordon, actress

JOY 9
"If you don't design your own life plan, chances are you'll fall into someone else's plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much." -- Jim Rohn

My Living Will Last night, my kids and I were sitting in the living room and I said to them, "I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug."
They got up, unplugged my Computer, and threw out my wine!
The little so-and-sos!

"The person who pays an ounce of principle for a pound of popularity gets badly cheated." -- Ronald Reagan

The Highest Priority
Have you ever been in a hurry and buttoned up a long overcoat with lots of buttons and when you were done, found out that the coat was uneven? What went wrong? I'll tell you what went wrong. When you don't get the first button in the right hole, all the rest are out of sequence too, right?! That's a parable about life. Jesus said it this way in the Sermon on the Mount: "Seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well." (Matthew 6:33) If the Lord is not the high priority in your life, then, like the overcoat, so many other things in life will be out of whack as well.

A Priorities
A time management guru, a professor in the business school at Harvard, speaks about A, B, and C priorities, and then he notes that too many people spend too much of their time on the C priorities! And then he asks, "Why do you think that is?" The answer is that the C priorities are, first, much easier to accomplish, and, second, give you the impression that you are actually getting something done. In other words you can keep busy with the C priorities all day and never get to the more important things. The lesson from Mary and Martha is "Don't let the good (the C priorities) get in the way of the best (the A priorities). Sound like anyone you know?

Our prayer should be:
"Slow me down, Lord. I'm goin' too fast.
I can't see my brother when he's walking past.
I miss a lot of things day by day when it comes my way.
Slow me down, Lord, I'm goin' too fast."

Mickey Rivers, a one time outfielder for the Texas Rangers professional baseball team, stated his philosophy of life: "Ain't no sense worrying about things you got control over, because if you got control over them, ain't no sense worrying. And there ain't no sense worrying about things you got no control over either, because if you got no control them, ain't no sense worrying."

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

Created for Faith not Fear
I am inwardly fashioned for faith, not for fear. Fear is not my native land; faith is. I am so made that worry and anxiety are sand in the machinery of life; faith is the oil. I live better by faith and confidence than by fear, doubt and anxiety. In anxiety and worry, my being is gasping for breath--these are not my native air. But in faith and confidence, I breathe freely--these are my native air. A John Hopkins University doctor says, "We do not know why it is that worriers die sooner than the non- worriers, but that is a fact." But I, who am simple of mind, think I know; We are inwardly constructed in nerve and tissue, brain cell and soul, for faith and not for fear. God made us that way. To live by worry is to live against reality. E. Stanley Jones,

Martin Luther said that those who listen are those who are truly wise, because they always begin anew so that they may forget the things that are behind and stretch themselves to what is ahead. But the lukewarm and the hypocrites, he said, think they have already chosen what is best. "They forget what is before them and fall back into what is behind them, and there they rest and snore."

If we are willing to take hours on end to learn to play a piano, or operate a computer, or fly an airplane, it is sheer nonsense for us to imagine that we can learn the high art of getting guidance through communion with the Lord without being willing to set aside time for it. It is no accident that the Bible speaks of prayer as a form of waiting on God. --Paul S. Rees

The young man from Mississippi came running into the store and said to his buddy, "Bubba, somebody just stole your pickup truck from the parking lot!" Bubba replied, "Did you see who it was? "The young man answered, "I couldn't tell , but I got the license number.

When we stand in the middle of a lifestorm, it seems as if the storm has become our way of life. We cannot see a way out. We are unable to chart a course back to smoother waters. We feel defeated--and broken. Will that brokenness produce a cynicism that will keep us forever in the mire of "if only" thinking? Or will we yield up that brokenness to the resources of One who calms the winds and the waves, heals the brokenhearted, and forgives the most grievous of sins? The choice is ours. --Verdell Davis, "Riches Stored in Secret Places"

There are two types of chaos: the chaos of creativity vs. the chaos of over-creation and incompletion. Which one best describes you? —Leslie Boyer, “Managing Chaos,”

If future generations are to remember us more with gratitude than sorrow, we must achieve more than just the miracles of technology. We must also leave them a glimpse of the world as it was created, not just as it looked when we got through with it.
Only 14 percent of evangelicals in the United States believe poverty is something that churches should take the lead in addressing. That's still more than triple the rate of the average population (4 percent). - Source: Barna.org (June, 2007)

Americans spent more last year on bottled water than on iPods and movie tickets -- a whopping $15 billion.

"Being a Christian doesn't mean hovering above the ugliness of life. It means we are given the weapons necessary to face wickedness with the hope of creating something good in its place." - Paul Coughlin, No More Jellyfish, Chickens, or Wimps

"The God-life cannot be domesticated or used – it can only be entered into on its own terms. Holiness does not make God smaller so that he can be used in convenient and manageable projects; it makes us larger so that God can give out life through us, extravagantly, spontaneously. The holy is an interior fire, a passion for living in and for God, a capacity for exuberance in the presence of God." - Eugene Peterson, The Jesus Way

Police excuse angry computer user for outburst BERLIN (Reuters) - A German man who startled his neighbors when he hurled his computer out of the window in the middle of the night, was let off for disturbing the peace by police who sympathized with his technical frustrations. Police in the northern city of Hanover said they would not press charges after responding to calls made by residents in an apartment block who were woken by a loud crash in the early hours of Saturday. Officers found the street and pavement covered in electronic parts and discovered who the culprit was. Asked what had driven him to the night-time outburst, the 51-year-old man said he had simply got annoyed with his computer.
"Who hasn't felt like doing that?" said a police spokesman.
While escaping any official sanction the man was made to clear up the debris.

If people keep gaining weight at the current rate, fat will be the norm by 2015, with 75 percent of U.S. adults overweight and 41 percent obese, U.S. researchers predicted on Wednesday.

Eating beef ' is less green than driving'
Producing 2.2lb of beef generates as much greenhouse gas as driving a car non-stop for three hours, it was claimed yesterday. Japanese scientists used a range of data to calculate the environmental impact of a single purchase of beef. Taking into account all the processes involved, they said, four average sized steaks generated greenhouse gases with a warming potential equivalent to 80.25lb of carbon dioxide.
This also consumed 169 megajoules of energy.
That means that 2.2lb of beef is responsible for greenhouse gas emissions which have the same effect as the carbon dioxide released by an ordinary car travelling at 50 miles per hour for 155 miles, a journey lasting three hours. The amount of energy consumed would light a 100-watt bulb for 20 days.

"I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or
any kindness I can show to any creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again." -- Stephen Grellet

"If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere." -- Frank A. Clark

"What is harder than rock, or softer than water? Yet soft water hollows out hard rock. Persevere." -- Ovid, Roman poet

"The person rowing the boat seldom has time to rock it." -- Author Unknown

FEEL USELESS AND HOPELESS?
Ever feel like the world is a tuxedo - and you're a pair of brown shoes? Just remember, you're in good company
NOAH was a drunk
ABRAHAM was too old
ISAAC was a daydreamer
JACOB was a liar
GIDEON was afraid
JONAH ran from God
ZACCHAEUS was too small
TIMOTHY was too young
JOHN the BAPTIST was called "crazy"
And all of them, and each of us, is forgiven by God in Christ Jesus! Look out world, here we come!

When the train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not. You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through. --Corrie Ten Boom

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke

"The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it." -- Albert Einstein

"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph." -- Haile Selassie

July 11

2010-08-12T22:44:00.000-07:00

Scientific 'theory' is just madness, The theory of gravity is also incorrect, it's really God holding us down so we don't float to heaven too early.

"Golf is harder than baseball. In golf, you have to play your foul balls."

If you don't go to work for the Lord because you are afraid of making mistakes, you will probably make the greatest mistake of your life--that of doing nothing. --D. L. Moody

In 1999, Catherine Ryan Hyde wrote a novel called "Pay It Forward" (later turned into a movie). It starts with a teacher's assignment to "Think of an idea for world change and put it into action " Trevor, the 12-year-old hero, comes up with an idea. If he does something "real good" for three people and asks in return that instead of them "paying him back," they
"pay it forward" by doing a good deed for three other people, who are in turn asked to pay it forward, the math quickly shows that he could change the world.

The tests, conducted late last month in a sound-proof studio, found the vuvuzela emitted 127 decibels, more than the air horn - 123.5 decibels - and the Brazil's samba drums.
A referee's whistle was fourth while the cowbell, a favourite in Switzerland and Austria, trailed at 114.9 decibels.
"To put it in perspective, when a sound is increased by ten decibels our ears perceive it as being twice as loud, so we would consider the vuvuzela to be more than double the volume of the cowbell," audiologist Robert Beiny said in a statement.
Hear the World said extended exposure to 85 decibels risked permanent hearing loss and urged fans to use protection, such as ear plugs and ear muffs.

The bride was escorted down the aisle and when she reached the altar, the groom was standing there with his golf bag and clubs at his side. She said:
"What are your golf clubs doing here?"
He looked her right in the eye and said, "This isn't going to take all day,` is it?

"I don't believe that God chose you and blessed you so that you could heap those blessings up upon yourself. I believe God chose you...because He wants to make a difference in this world. And you know what? What I think is scary about God is He didn't come up with any 'plan B.' That He left the church here, and the church is the only group of people and the church is the only institution in the world that can bring about a change. This government cannot do it, so stop depending on the government. Educational systems cannot do it, so stop trusting educational systems. The church was chosen by God to make a difference...And you know what people?...You're gonna make a difference when you lay down your life, and in complete submission to God, choose to die with Him in service to other people." - Rich Mullins, the "Awesome God" guy

A police car pulls up in front of grandma Bessie's house, and grandpa Morris gets out. The polite policeman explained that this elderly gentleman said that he was lost in the park and couldn't find his way home.
"Oh Morris", said grandma, "You've been going to that park for over 30 years! How could you get lost?"
Leaning close to grandma, so that the policeman couldn't hear, Morris whispered, "I wasn't lost. I was just too tired to walk home."

The Good Samaritan is like “a Plains Indian in 1875 walking into Dodge City with a scalped cowboy on his horse, checking into a room over the local saloon, and staying the night to take care of him. Any Indian so brave would be fortunate to get out of the city alive even if he had saved the cowboy’s life.”

By loving the unlovable, You made me lovable. Augustine to God

1. Americans' Church Attendance Inches Up in 2010
Americans' self-reported church attendance has continued to inch up in 2010, with 43.1% of Americans reporting weekly or almost weekly attendance.
"A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities." – William Arthur Ward
"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth -- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up -- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had." -- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
"He who angers you conquers you." – Elizabeth Kenny
Most of North America lives in multi-housing; 95% without Christ About 57 percent of all people in North America reside in multi-housing -- apartments, expensive high-rises, mobile home parks and condominiums. An estimated 95 percent of them are lost without Christ.

• What's So Funny?
As one gets older, it may be harder to "get" or understand jokes. Researchers at Washington University found that older adults — because they have "greater difficulty with cognitive flexibility, abstract reasoning and short-term memory — also have greater difficulty with tests of humor comprehension," reports the Associated Press. Findings revealed that the younger adults did six percent better on verbal jokes and 14 percent better on the comic portion [of their tests] than did older participants. (Now we know why people are not laughing at Pastor Don’s jokes)

"God must have had a lot of confidence in you to put you on the planet at just this time. It was his sovereign decision to insert you onto planet earth during a time of huge transition. It takes incredible faith to lead during hinge points of history." - Reggie McNeal, The Present Future: Six Tough Questions for the Church (Jossey-Bass, 2003)

"Why do bad things happen? I don't know. Why did Jamie die? I don't know. But I do know that God has the answers, I know he loves me, and I know he has a plan – whether it makes sense to me or not. Rather than asking why, I'm asking what. What can I learn from this? What can I do for God's glory and to help others?" - Tony Dungy, talking about his son's 2005 death in Quiet Strength (Tyndale House, 2007)

The estimated cost of all of the parts of the iPhone cost $200. The average cost for the newest technological gadget to create consumer feeding frenzy is $499. - Source: Time magazine.

"You can give without loving, but you cannot love without giving." - Amy Carmichael

The question is not “Who is my neighbor?” but “Am I a neighbor?” In other words, the burden of proof does not lie with another as to whether or not he is a neighbor in order to quality for my love. The question is, “Am I a neighbor to any and all, especially to those who are needy?” —Richard C. Halverson.

All the blessings we enjoy are divine deposits, committed to our trust on this condition, that they should be dispensed for the benefit of our neighbors. —John Calvin.

"Real leaders come in all shapes and sizes and from all walks of life. But they all have a few things in common:
"They are never so big that they can't bend down to help someone else.
"They are never so wise that they don't remember who taught them.
"They are never so gifted that they won't share their skills with others.
"They are never so fearless that they don't play by the rules and live by the law.
"They are never such big winners that they forget what it feels like to lose."

The Good Black Man
How did this parable affect the people who heard it? Think of it this way: If Jesus went to a Ku Klux Klan rally and they asked who is my neighbor. Jesus then might tell the parable, having the Grand Master of the Klan crash into a ditch only to be passed over by a white sheriff and a white minister. Finally, along would come a black sharecropper playing the part of the Good Samaritan.
How do you think the hearers at the Ku Klux Klan meeting would respond when Jesus asked, “Which of the three proved to be a neighbor?” They’d suddenly find themselves pairing together the words “good” and “black.” “The good black man.” And how would they deal with that topsy-turvy reality?

THE MOST IMPORTANT DAY
This is the most important day in your life.
Because this is the day that you are now living.
If your life is headed in an undesirable direction,
this is the day you can change it.
If there are dreams you are longing to fulfill,
this is the day you can follow them.
This day, right now,
is the day when you can put to use all the knowledge,
experience and wisdom you've accumulated.
On this very day,
you can do the things you've been meaning to do
and connect with the people you've been meaning to see.
On this day, you have a world full of choices.
On this day, there are more possibilities than ever before.
Of all the days you've ever lived, and of all the days to come,
this is the one special day that now matters the most.
For it is on this very day that you can now think
and speak and act and love and live.
Give yourself a quiet, peaceful moment,
and grasp the immense value
that is now yours on this very day.
Then step forward and fill it with beautiful life.

Bernie and Esther were not the most religious Jews and in fact they really only went to Temple once a year. As they were leaving the Temple, the Rabbi said, "Bernie, it sure would be nice to see you and Esther here more than once a year!"
"I know," replied Bernie, "but at least we keep the Ten Commandments."
"That's great," the Rabbi said. "I'm glad to hear that you keep the Commandments."
"Yep," Bernie said proudly, "Esther keeps six of them and I keep the other four."

Someone has observed that Knowledge is exploding at such a rate--more than 2000 pages a minute--that even Einstein couldn't keep up. In fact, if you read 24 hours a day, from age 21 to 70, and retained all you read, you would be one and a half million years behind when you finished.

The essential act of prayer is not the bending of God's will to ours . . .but the bending of our will to His. The proper outline of a Christian's prayer is not "Please do for me what I want," but "Please do in me, with me, and through me what You want." -- William Temple

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread."--Mother Teresa

- "Suspicion often creates what it suspects." - C.S. Lewis
- "If your dreams turn to dust... vacuum." - Unknown
"Jesus loves you as you are, and not as you should be; because you will never be as you 'should be.'" --Brennan Manning

Don't argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.

July 4

2010-08-12T22:43:00.000-07:00

Christian motto: I'm going to Heaven, having a great time doing it, and want to take as many with me as possible.

"What can I do today that I would be proud to look back on at the end of my life?" -- Unknown

"Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art ... It has no survival value; rather is one of those things that give value to survival." – C.S. Lewis

"A person without a sense of humor is like a wagon without springs--jolted by every pebble in the road." -- Henry Ward Beecher

"The world is a great mirror. It reflects back to you what you are. If you are loving, if you are friendly, if you are helpful, the world will prove loving and friendly and helpful to you. The world is what you are." -- Thomas Dreier

"The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it's on ... a football field, in an army or in an office." -- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired and success achieved." -- Helen Keller
If you hold your thumb at arms length toward the sky, there are more than 250,000 galaxies behind the space of you thumbnail.

"Don't tell people how to do things; tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results." - George Patton

"We cannot solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them." - Albert Einstein

He who made us also remade us. Saint Augustine of Hippo (354-430)

I spent a fortune on a trampoline
A stationary bike and a rowing machine
Complete with gadgets to read my pulse
And gadgets to prove my progress results
And others to show the miles I've charted -
But they left off the gadget to get me started.

"The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence":

From bondage to spiritual faith;
from spiritual faith to great courage;
from courage to liberty;
From liberty to abundance;
from abundance to selfishness;
from selfishness to complacency;
from complacency to apathy;
from apathy to dependency;
from dependency back to bondage.

Edward Gibbon, author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, has attributed the fall of the Empire to:
1. The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies for free bread and circuses for the populace.
3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.
4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within, the decadence of the people.
5. The decay of religion--faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people. Edward Gibbon

Love is the Christlike reaction to people’s malice.
Joy is the Christlike reaction to depressing circumstances.
Peace is the Christlike reaction to troubles, threats and invitations to anxiety.
Patience is the Christlike reaction to all that is maddening.
Kindness is the Christlike reaction to all that are unkind.
Goodness is the Christlike reaction to bad people and had behavior.
Faithfulness and gentleness are the Christlike reactions to lies and fury.
Self-control is the Christlike reaction to every situation that goads you to lose your cool and hit out.

Their Sacrifice, Our Freedom
Fifty-six men signed the Declaration of Independence. Their conviction resulted in untold sufferings for themselves and their families. Of the 56 men, five were captured by the British and tortured before they died. Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons in the Revolutionary Army. Another had two sons captured. Nine of the fifty-six fought and died from wounds or hardships of the war. Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw his ships sunk by the British navy. He sold his home and properties to pay his debts and died in poverty. At the battle of Yorktown, the British General Cornwallis had taken over Thomas Nelson's home for his headquarters. Nelson quietly ordered General George Washington to open fire on the Nelson home. The home was destroyed and Nelson died bankrupt. John Hart was driven from his wife's bedside as she was dying. Their thirteen children fled for their lives. His fields and mill were destroyed. For over a year, he lived in forest and caves, returning home only to find his wife dead and his children vanished. A few weeks later, he died from exhaustion.

General Omar Bradley said, "America today is running on the momentum of a godly ancestry, and when that momentum runs down, God help America."
Bradley also said, "We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount… The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants."

"History fails to record a single precedent in which nations subject to moral decay have not passed into political and economic decline. There has been either a spiritual awakening to overcome the moral lapse, or a progressive deterioration leading to ultimate national disaster." - General Douglas MacArthur

"Every generation of Americans needs to know that freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." - Pope John Paul II

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke

"…I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’" - Martin Luther King, Jr. (From his "I Have a Dream speech, delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C. on August 28, 1963)

"I therefore beg leave to move that henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessing on our deliberations, be held in the Assembly every morning…" Benjamin Franklin, 1787 Constitutional Convention

"I believe with all my heart that standing up for America means standing up for the God who has so blessed our land. We need God's help to guide our nation through stormy seas. But we can't expect Him to protect America in a crisis if we just leave Him over on the shelf in our day-to-day living."

"America today is running on the momentum of a Godly ancestry, and when that momentum runs down, God help America." General Omar Bradley

June 27

2010-08-12T22:41:00.000-07:00

Knowledge is like money; the more a man gets, the more he craves.
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.
Education covers a lot of ground, but it does not cultivate it.
Philosophy is the last refuge of thinkers.
A man who acquires knowledge and does not use it is like a farmer who plows his
field but doesn't sow it.

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." -- William Arthur Ward
"The country clubs, the cars, the boats, your assets may be ample, but the best inheritance you can leave your kids is to be a good example." -- Barry Spilchuk
We all need a daily check up from the neck up to avoid stinkin’ thinkin’ which ultimately leads to hardening of the attitudes. ~Zig Ziglar

The Bible in Every Language in 15 Years Wycliffe Bible Translators expects to have the
Bible — or at least some of it — written in all of the world's 6,909 spoken languages by 2025.
About 2,200 languages remain without a Bible, which represents about 350 million people —
mostly in India, China, sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea. Portable computers and
satellites get the credit for speeding things up by about 125 years. Previously, a Wycliffe
missionary family or team could spend decades learning and transcribing one language in a
remote corner of the Earth. [DenverPost.com]

"Laughter is to life what shock absorbers are to automobiles. It won't take the potholes out of the road, but it sure makes the ride smoother." -- Barbara Johnson

"Do not wait; the time will never be 'just right.' Start where you stand, and work with whatever
tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along." --
Napoleon Hill

"Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd: a little
bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more." -- Lou Vickery

"I would rather fail trying than succeed at doing nothing." -- Denis Waitley

"Be like a postage stamp. Stick to one thing until you get there." -- Josh Billings

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

"Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach. It's the end you're after." -- Anthony Robbins

"You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage--pleasantly, smilingly,
non-apologetically--to say 'no' to other things. And the way you do that is by having a bigger
'yes' burning inside." -- Dr. Stephen Covey

Little Johnny burst through the front door with a smile on his face. Surprised, his mother asked,
"Why are you home from school so early?"
Johnny said, "They let me go early because I was the only one who could answer a tough
question."
"Oh, really? What was the question?" his mother asked.
"Who threw the eraser at the teacher?"

You Cannot Multiply Wealth by Dividing It
"You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one
person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The
government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from
somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the
other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no
good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is
about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." Dr. Adrian Rogers, 1931-
2005.

Difficult Decisions When considering a difficult decision, look ahead in your life toward the day
when you will die, and consider: which option would you regret most not doing. In most cases,
your answer will be immediately clear.

"Before beginning a hunt, it is wise to ask someone what you are looking for before you begin looking for it." -- Winnie the Pooh
"When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?" -- Sydney J. Harris

Joni Eareckson Tada, 60, founder and chief executive officer of Joni and Friends
International Disability Center in Agoura Hills, Calif., has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
Joni is an international disability advocate as a quadriplegic herself, and is also known for
being an artist and author. "I've often said that our afflictions come from the hand of our
all-wise and sovereign God, who loves us and wants what is best for us," Tada said. "So,
although cancer is something new, I am content to receive from God whatever He deems fit
for me. Yes, it's alarming, but rest assured that Ken [her husband] and I are utterly convinced
that God is going to use this to stretch our faith, brighten our hope and strengthen our witness
to others." [WordPress.com]

"Vision is the spectacular that inspires us to carry out the mundane." -- Chris Widener

Whatever our season of life, it offers its own opportunities and challenges for spirit growth.
Instead of wishing we were in another season, we ought to find out what this one offers.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven:
Prayer: Lord, help me to accept my current season of life and discover what you want me to learn and how I should grow. Amen

A sunrise is God's way of telling the world to lighten up. --Roadside Church Sign

Oh, what a tangled web do parents weave when they think that their children are naive.
--Ogden Nash

June 20

2010-08-12T22:40:00.000-07:00

"Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men. Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks." -- Phillips Brooks

"We are spinning our own fates, good or evil, and never to be undone. Every smallest stroke of virtue or of vice leaves its never so little scar." -- William James

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." -- Lord Acton

"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong." -- Abraham Lincoln

"To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it. But we must sail, and not drift or lie at anchor." -- Oliver Wendell Holmes

"The trouble with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." -- Margaret Thatcher

JOY 10
It was the first day of school, and mother sent little Billy off to class. When he came home that day, she asked, "So Billy, what did you learn on your first day of school?"
Little Billy replied, "I learned to write."
"Oh, my!" his mother responded. "And on your first day of school! What did you write?"
"I don't know," said Billy. "I haven't learned to read yet."

Some time back I read a statement which really got my attention....
The statement declared that a little, tiny gnat can wreck an automobile. Of course, I wondered, "How?" And the article then explained that a tiny gnat had wrecked a car by flying into the eye of the driver at a critical time, causing the driver to lose control.
The lesson was quite plain: So often in life, little things can do great harm. It is easy for us to be like the gnat. Our petty criticisms, murmuring, complaints, and fault-finding can "wreck" the most ambitious person or program.

"Always be eager to learn, no matter how successful you might already be. In the Millionaires' Club, we sometimes invite a billionaire to come talk to us. He says, 'You're doing okay, but come on. How about if you really poured it on!'"

"The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." -- William Arthur Ward

"The country clubs, the cars, the boats, your assets may be ample, but the best inheritance you can leave your kids is to be a good example." -- Barry Spilchuk

"Watch your thoughts, for they become words. Choose your words, for they become actions. Understand your actions, for they become habits. Study your habits, for they will become your character. Develop your character, for it becomes your destiny." -- Unknown

My Dad's Hands

Bedtime came, we were settling down,
I was holding one of my lads.
As I grasped him so tight, I saw a strange sight:
My hands. . .they looked like my dad's!

I remember them well, those old gnarled hooks,
there was always a cracked nail or two.
And thanks to a hammer that strayed from its mark,
his thumb was a beautiful blue!

They were rough, I remember, incredibly tough,
as strong as a carpenter's vice.
But holding a scared little boy at night,
they seemed to me awfully nice!

The sight of those hands - how impressive it was
in the eyes of his little boy.
Other dads' hands were cleaner, it seemed
(the effects of their office employ).

I gave little thought in my formative years
of the reason for Dad's raspy mitts:
The love in the toil, the dirt and the oil,
rusty plumbing that gave those hands fits!

Thinking back, misty-eyed, and thinking ahead,
when one day my time is done.
The torch of love in my own wrinkled hands
will pass on to the hands of my son.

I don't mind the bruises, the scars here and there
or the hammer that just seemed to slip.
I want most of all when my son takes my hand,
to feel that love lies in the grip.

A SON’S NEED - A man came home from work late again, tired and irritated, to find his five-year-old son waiting for him at the door. "Daddy, may I ask you a question?" "Yeah, sure. What is it?" replied the man. "Daddy, how much money do you make an hour?" "That’’s none of your business! What makes you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily. "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" pleaded the little boy. "If you must know, I make $20 an hour." "Oh," the little boy replied, head bowed. Looking up, he said, "Daddy, may I borrow $9 please?" The father was furious. "If the only reason you wanted to know how much money I make is so you can borrow some to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march straight to your room and go to bed. Think about why you’’re being so selfish. I work long, hard hours every day and don’’t have time for such childish games."
The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door, obviously crestfallen. The man sat down and started to get even angrier about his son’’s questioning. How dare he ask such questions only to get some money. After an hour or so the man calmed down. He started to think he may have been a little hard on his son. Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $9; he didn’’t ask for money very often. The man went to his son’’s room and opened the door. "Are you asleep, son?" he asked.
"No daddy, I’’m awake," replied the boy. "I’’ve been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier," said the man. "It’’s been long day and I took my aggravations out on you. Here’’s that $9 you asked for." The little boy sat straight up, beaming. "Oh, thank you daddy!" he yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow, he pulled out some more crumpled-up bills.
The man, seeing that the boy already had money, started to be angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, then looked up at the man. "Why did you want more money if you already had some?" the father grumbled. "Because I didn’’t have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied. "Daddy, I have $20 now. Can I buy an hour of your time?"

June 13

2010-08-12T22:38:00.000-07:00

It’s easy to stand for truth if you don’t love, and it’s easy to seem loving if you forfeit the truth. Living for Jesus requires both. – Rick Warren
"The big rewards come to those who travel the second, undemanded mile." -- Bruce Barton

"Four short words sum up what has lifted most successful individuals above the crowd; a little bit more. They did all that was expected of them and a little bit more." -- A. Lou Vickery

"The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us." -- Francois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire)

"Living consciously involves being genuine; it involves listening and responding to others honestly and openly; it involves being in the moment." -- Sidney Poitier

"Learn to...be what you are, and learn to resign with good grace all that you are not." -- Henri Frederic Amiel

The teenager lost a contact lens while playing basketball in his driveway. After a fruitless search, he told his mother the lens was nowhere to be found.
Undaunted, she went outside and in a few minutes returned with the lens in her hand.
"How did you manage to find it, Mom?" the teenager asked.
"We weren't looking for the same thing," she replied. "You were looking for a small piece of plastic. I was looking for $150."

"Not all revolutions begin in the streets with tanks and guns. Some advance slowly, almost imperceptibly, until a nation is transformed and the public realizes too late that their freedoms are gone. Such is the revolution now taking place in America." -- Cal Thomas

“Heroism is endurance for one moment more.” -- George F. Kennan
“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” -- Arthur Ashe
"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." – Albert Einstein

We are all as close to God as we want to be. We are also as far from Him as we choose to be. Rick Joyner
There are three signs of old age. The first is your loss of memory, the other two I forget.

"What lies behind us and what lies between us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." --Oliver Wendell Holmes

No one told any better golf stories than Bob Hope. "Jerry Ford was the first person to make golf a contact sport. When he yelled, 'Fore!', you never knew if he was telling people to get out of the way or predicting how many spectators he was going to hit."
And again: "My new partner asked me what I shot. I said, 'I shot in the low 70s.' He said, 'Honestly?' I said, 'What's that got to do with it!"' (ed. note: For too many people today, "honesty" has too little to do with anything.)

One day the zoo-keeper noticed that the orangutan was reading two books -- the Bible and Darwin's Origin of Species.
In surprise he asked the ape, "Why are you reading both those books?"
"Well," said the orangutang, "I just wanted to know if I was my brother's keeper or my keeper's brother."

Have you ever tried to accomplish a task using the wrong tool? It’s like trying to turn a slotted screw with a Phillips’ screwdriver! They don’t fit, the screw doesn’t turn. You need the right tool to match the requirements of the job. Building a household of faith is much the same way. Our Scripture lessons for today tell us God needs willing hearts, attitudes of reconciliation, and “just the right person with the right gifts for the right job.” You may wonder if you possess the right tools/skills for “faith-building” - you do, God has already given them to you. So stop hitting that nail with the handle of the screwdriver!

+ The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the alphabet (developed by Western Union to test telex/twx communications).
+ The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
+ In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's."

June 6

2010-08-12T22:36:00.000-07:00

A pastor was giving a lesson to a group of children on the 23rd Psalm. He noticed that one of the little boys seemed disquieted by the phrase "Surely, goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life..."
"What's wrong with that, Johnny?" the pastor asked.
"Well," answered Johnny, "I understand about having goodness and mercy, for God is good. But I'm not sure I'd like Shirley following me around all the time."

My bathroom scales are also beginning to show signs of inflation.

I was getting to the point of my conversation when suddenly my train of thought pulled out of the station, leaving me on the platform.

Death is not extinguishing the light from the Christian; it is putting out the lamp because the dawn has come.

A Chinese supercomputer has been ranked as the world’s second-fastest machine, surpassing European and Japanese systems and underscoring China’s aggressive commitment to science and technology.
The Dawning Nebulae, based at the National Supercomputing Center in Shenzhen, China, has achieved a sustained computing speed of 1.27 petaflops — the equivalent of one thousand trillion mathematical operations a second — in the latest semiannual ranking of the world’s fastest 500 computers.
The world’s fastest computer remains the Cray Jaguar supercomputer, based at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Last November it was measured at 1.75 petaflops. The United States continues to be the dominant maker of supercomputers, and is the nation with the most machines in the top 500. The United States has 282 of the world’s fastest 500 computers on the new list, an increase from 277 when the rankings were compiled in November.

Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass, Its learning to dance in the rain.

Ah, that’s the reason a bird can sing
On his darkest day he believes in Spring.
Douglas Malloch (1877-1938), You Have to Believe

I Believe in Miracles
I believe for every drop of rain that falls, a flower grows;
I believe that somewhere in the darkest night, a candle glows;
I believe for everyone who goes astray, someone will come to show the way;
I believe above the storm the smallest prayer will still be heard;
I believe that Someone in the great somewhere hears every word;
Every time I hear a newborn baby cry, or touch a leaf, or see the sky,
Then I know why, I believe. Erwin Drake, Irvin Graham, Jimmy Shirl, Al Stillman

WHAT DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR CHILDREN and/or grandchildren?
It is very difficult not to get caught up in the adventures and consequences of Hollywood's "bad girls." The names Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Lindsay Lohan and Nicole Richie dominate news shows, newspapers and magazines. These young ladies, all under the age of 26, have become famous more for their misdeeds than their accomplishments. It has been said, "Fame, money and power change everything." Would you agree?
It is also a sad commentary on our society when the young ladies mentioned above become the role models for pre-teen and teenage girls around the world. In a USAToday survey people said money, fame and the negative influence of Hollywood had more to do with their bad behavior than parents doing a poor job. I wonder? I believe parents matter and they matter a lot. I also would think the parents of the four troubled ladies are heartsick at what they see.

I wish the following for children:
* I want them to experience unconditional love, but with limits and parameters.
* I want them to grow under Christian influence. I want them to model their parents' values.
* I want their fathers to be their heroes, not some rock star or movie celebrity.
* I also want for them good guidance from their moms on what they wear, and how they look in public. Sometimes, parents must say "no" regardless of the reaction.
* I want for children open communication. I want them to be able to discuss anything with their parents.
* I also want them to understand the value of a dollar.
* I want for them friends who have good morals themselves, and good parental influence.
* I don't want our children to think Britney, Lindsay, Nicole and Paris are "cool." I love them too much.
What do you want for your children?
Be blessed and be a blessing.

Interest in Religion Increases on Campus
"There is probably more active religious life now [on campus] than there has been in 100 years," notes Harvard Professor Gomes, the university preacher. Gomes remembers when religious people on campus felt under siege or were seen as not very bright. No longer. Today on campuses across the nation, including Harvard and Berkeley, chaplains and professors are seeing more interest in religion and spirituality than at any time they can remember. At the University of California at Berkeley, alone, there are now more than 50 Christian organizations and student attendance at nearby churches has increased significantly.

"In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering." - Howard Hendricks

Who Says?
Philosophers say… Think your way out.
Intellectuals say… Read your way out.
Artists say… Create your way out.
Scientists say… Invent your way out.
Politicians say… Legislate your way out.
Industrialists say… Work your way out.
Businessmen say… Spend your way out.
Satan says… There is no way out.
Jesus says… “I am the Way the Truth and the Life: no man comet unto the Father but by Me.”

May 30

2010-08-12T22:35:00.000-07:00

"The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the most of everything that comes along their way." Unknown

Wouldn't you rather live your life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn't, than live your life as if there isn't, and die then find out there is?

A pastor was shaking hands with people as they left the church. A couple greeted him and said, "We listened carefully to every word you said." The pastor thanked the couple and said that he looked forward to seeing them next week. "Oh, we won't be here next week," the couple responded. "We're going to another church next week to get a second opinion."

+ The average size of the main courses of the Last Supper grew by 69 percent in artistic depictions from 1000 to 2000 AD. The average size of the depiction of bread grew by 23 percent. (Source: International Journal of Obesity via www.Christianitytoday.com)

“A true friend knows your weaknesses but shows you your strengths; feels your fears but fortifies your faith; sees your anxieties but frees your spirit; recognizes your disabilities but emphasizes your possibilities.” – William Arthur Ward
“It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth -- and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up -- that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.” -- Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
“He who angers you conquers you.” – Elizabeth Kenny
“Success is like death. The more successful you become, the higher the houses in the hills get and the higher the fences get.” -- Kevin Spacey

http://www.usdebtclock.org/ AMERICA'S NATIONAL DEBT -TOPS $13,000,000,000,000;
DEBT PER TAXPAYER - $117,975; US DEBT TO GDP RATIO - 90.3%

+ Patriotism is not a short and frenzied burst of emotion but the long and steady dedication of a lifetime. Thomas Jefferson
+ "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death." Thomas Paine

"A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both." -- Dwight Eisenhower

WHICH DISTURBS YOU MOST?
Which disturbs you most?
A soul lost in hell, or a scratch on a new car?
A sermon five minutes too long, or a lunch a half hour late?
Your Bible unopened, or your newspaper unread?
Contributions to the church increasing, or your income decreasing?
Children late for Sunday School, or late for public school?
Church work neglected, or housework neglected?
To miss prayer meeting, or to miss your favorite TV program?
Low attendance at worship services, or low attendance at club meetings?
Your child rebelling against you, or your rebelling against God?
A rainy Lord's Day, or a rainy work day?
A lazy employee, or your laziness in God's service?
Does it disturb you to give God second best?

As we begin to see the package God is putting together in our lives and discover his purposes for bringing us to our world, it will provide us with the framework we need to make wise choices. In addition, we will find that a sense of purpose gives hope in the midst of tragedy and difficulty, gives meaning to the mundane aspects of our lives, and helps us to make our lives count for God. R. Ruth Barton

"A friend is someone who reaches for your hand and touches your heart." -- Unknown

"The more I practice, the luckier I get." - Jerry Barber

THE OX IN THE DITCH
Jesus spoke about the ox in the ditch on the Sabbath. But if your ox gets in the ditch every Sabbath, you should either get rid of the ox or fill up the ditch. --Billy Graham

HEAVEN KNOWS
A sign in front of a church in Austin, Texas, read: "Heaven knows when you were here last."

FACES IN THE CROWD
On any given Sunday, several faces can be spotted in the congregation. For example:
--The Frozen Face. They are trapped in a kind of religious trance. They sit there until that dreadful hour passes because there is not much they can do about it.
--The Frowning Face. Thankfully there are not many of these. But there are a few. They are not about to adopt any attitude other than that of being bored stiff.
--The Faraway Face. They are here, but they are not really here. Their mind is a million miles away. They are preoccupied with many things other than worship.
--The Friendly Face. Thank God for these dear people. They are, by far, the majority. They come with an expectant heart. They pray from the heart. They lift up their hearts to the Lord in praise and worship through their singing.
Why do you come to church? Is it to play or to participate? --Author Unknown

"Nearly all men can stand adversity; but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." -- Abraham Lincoln

"Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown into flame by another human being. Each of us owes deepest thanks to those who have rekindled this light." -- Albert Schweitzer

May 23

2010-08-12T22:33:00.000-07:00

"It is no advantage to be near the light if the eyes are closed." -- Augustine

HOW GREAT LOVE IS -Author Unknown
Once upon a time, there was an island where all the Feelings lived: Happiness, Sadness, Knowledge, and all of the others including Love. One day it was announced to the Feelings that the island would sink, so all prepared their boats and left the island. Love was the only one who stayed behind. You see, Love wanted to wait until the last possible moment before leaving. The island was almost sunk, and Love decided to ask for help.
Richness was passing by Love in a grand boat. Love said, "Richness, can you take me with you?" Richness answered, "No, I can't. There is a lot of gold and silver in my boat. There is no place here for you." Love decided to ask Vanity who was also passing by in a beautiful vessel, "Vanity, please help me!" Vanity answered, "I can't help you, Love. You are all wet and might damage my boat."
Sadness was close by, so Love asked for help, "Sadness, let me go with you." Sadness said, "Oh...Love, I am so sad that I need to be by myself!" Happiness passed by Love too; Happiness did not hear the cry for help, for Happiness was so happy.
Suddenly, there was a voice, "Come, Love, I will take you." It was an Elder. Love felt so blessed and overjoyed that Love forgot to ask the Elder's name. When they arrived at dry land, the Elder went on its way. Love, realizing how much it owed the Elder asked Knowledge, another Elder, "Who helped me?"
"It was Time," Knowledge answered. "Time?" asked Love, "But why did Time help me?" Knowledge smiled with deep Wisdom and answered, "Because only Time is capable of understanding how great Love is."
Remember ~ God doesn't give us what we can handle; God helps us handle what we are given!

Do not ask the Lord to Guide your footsteps
if you are not willing to MOVE YOUR FEET.

I drive way too fast to worry about cholesterol.

I wear my wife's eyeglasses because she wants me to see things her way.
PARKED CARS CAN BECOME LIKE OVENS
On a 95 degree day, the interior of a parked car can reach:
Dashboard 181 degrees (temperature to cook poultry)
Seats 159 degrees (temperature to cook ground beef)
Steering wheel 159 degrees (temperature to cook medium rare beef)

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires." - William Arthur Ward

"A coach is someone who tells you what you don't want to hear, who has you see what you don't want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be." - Tom Landry

Do you know how important now is? Enjoy it as much as you can, because no matter how much you want to hold on to "now," it's going to be "was." Sid Caesar

There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit. Napoleon Bonaparte

The basic difference between physical and spiritual power is that men use physical power but spiritual power uses men. Justin Wroe Nixon (1886-1958)

May 16

2010-08-12T22:31:00.000-07:00

"My wife suggested a book for me to read to enhance our
relationship. It's titled: 'Women are from Venus, Men are
Wrong.'"

"Never let the fear of striking out get in your way."

-- Babe Ruth

Edward Gibbon, in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," suggests the following as the five major reasons for the collapse of the Roman Empire:

Family life disintegrated. (2) Traditional ethical systems were ignored and discarded--"anything goes" became the prevailing attitude of the day. (3) Entertainment became perverse and immoral. (4) Vast amounts of money were spent on maintaining the military machine to defend the Empire. (5) The Empire’s economy collapsed.

"I've never met a man who has given me as much trouble as
myself." - Dwight Moody

Anything that is of concern to you is fair grounds for prayer. The
power and beauty of prayer will come shining through in the
specificity of your praying. God will cease to be "out there" or "up
there" and will come to reside in your everyday life. God will not be
Creator only but will become Companion.
-- Steve Harper

When you are in the final days of your life, what will you want?

Will you hug that college degree in the walnut frame?

Will you ask to be carried to the garage so you can sit in your car?

Will you find comfort in rereading your financial statement?

Of course not. What will matter then will be people.

If relationships will matter most then, shouldn't they matter most now?

Max Lucado

I choose gentleness...
Nothing is won by force.
I choose to be gentle.
If I raise my voice may it be only in praise.
If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer.
If I make a demand, may it be only of myself. Max Lucado

"The greatest conflicts are not between two people, but between one person and himself." -- Garth Brooks

"The greater part of our happiness depends on our dispositions and not on our circumstances." -- Martha Washington

"The amount of satisfaction you get from life largely depends on your own ingenuity, self-sufficiently, and resourcefulness. People who wait around for life to supply their satisfaction usually find boredom instead." -- Dr. William Menninger

"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." -- Thomas Jefferson

"Never Complain About What You Permit." -- Unknown

"It takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it." -- Benjamin Franklin

On the Lighter Side
Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.

Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.

How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.

Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier than the people who have to wait for them?

If ignorance is bliss, why aren't more people happy?

Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.

If Walmart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free yet?

You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.
We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors ... but they all have to learn to live in the same box.

Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler.

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.

"Only one life
'Twill soon be passed.
Only what's done for Christ
Will last."

"He who constantly looks back loses sight in one eye.
He who never looks back loses sight in both eyes." --
Russian Proverb

"Too soon old. Too late 'schmartz.'" -- German
Proverb

"One hundred years from now, it will not matter what
my bank account was, how big my house was, or what
kind of car I drove. But the world may be a little
better, because I was important in the life of a
child." -- Forest Witcraft

On the Lighter Side
From a church bulletin: "Our minister is leaving the
church this Sunday. Will you please send in a small
donation? The congregation wants to give him a little
momentum."

From a sign on a church property: "The gospel is free,
but this church is for sale."

From a newsletter: "What God couldn't do if only he
had the money!"

From a church notice board: "Hear our pastor preach
tonight on the subject: 'What is Hell Like.' Come
early and hear our choir sing!"

Accidental Evolution--Believe It or Not

The evolutionist puts it thus: "Once upon a time under
a deadly sun, in an ammoniated ocean topped by a
poisonous atmosphere in the midst of a soup of organic
molecules, a nucleic acid molecule came accidentally
into being that could somehow bring about the
existence of another like itself."

From The Wells-Springs of Life, by
Isaac Asimov

May 9

2010-08-12T22:29:00.000-07:00

*The most important occupation on earth for a woman is to be a real mother to her children. It does not have much glory to it; there is a lot of grit and grime. It’s kind of like a grimy shepherd taking care of wandering sheep. But there is no greater place of ministry, position, or power than that of a mother. --Phil Whisenhunt

Home should be a retreat to which a son or daughter can return in triumph or defeat, in victory or disgrace, and know they will be loved. --Unknown

One of the most pleasant ways to a mother's heart is through the doors of a good restaurant. --Unknown

"Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, it's about learning how to dance in the rain".

If the typical stay-at-home mother in the United States were paid for her work as a housekeeper, cook and psychologist among other roles, she would earn $138,095 a year, according to research.
This reflected a 3 percent raise from last year's $134,121, according to Salary.com Inc, Waltham, Massachusetts-based compensation experts.
The 10 jobs listed as comprising a mother's work were housekeeper, cook, day care center teacher, laundry machine operator, van driver, facilities manager, janitor, computer operator, chief executive officer and psychologist, it said.
The typical mother puts in a 92-hour work week, it said, working 40 hours at base pay and 52 hours overtime.

Five Minutes in the Green Boosts Self-Esteem
A new study shows that just five minutes of exercise outside in a “green area” can boost self-esteem. Researchers from the University of Essex found that outside activities like gardening, biking, and hiking can benefit the self-esteem of individuals, particularly the young and mentally ill. Green areas, like parks, in urban areas saw the same benefits as those in more rural areas. ‘We believe that there would be a large potential benefit to individuals, society and to the costs of the health service if all groups of people were to self-medicate more with green exercise,’ said one of the researchers, Jo Barton.
The influence of God’s creation on us should not be a surprising one. Spending time in the world that God created can help remind us of His presence in our lives and that we are a part of His creation too. Knowing God and feeling His presence around us cannot help but raise our self-esteem because we can recognize that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.”

No two friends are the same. Each has his or her own gift for us. When we expect one friend to have all we need, we will always be hypercritical, never completely happy with what he or she does have.
One friend may offer us affection, another may stimulate our minds, another may strengthen our souls. The more able we are to receive the different gifts our friends have to give us, the more able we will be to offer our own unique but limited gifts. Thus, friendships create a beautiful tapestry of love.

Redemption Is Found Through Suffering
The heroes and heroines of history are not those who took it easy, who had it good, but those who struggled and who overcame seemingly insurmountable odds."
A striking example is the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky regarded by many as one of the greatest literary geniuses of all time. His books are classics. The Brothers Karamazov is regarded by many as the greatest novel ever written. His stories all have a similar theme, that our redemption is to be found through suffering, not simply physical suffering, but in the anguish of our selfhood. We become fully human, Dostoyevsky believed, by being tested and being strengthened through it.

The Church Is Associated With Life
The mortuary funeral chapel is used for only one purpose and is associated with nothing but death. The church building, on the other hand, is associated with all aspects of life. All kinds of things go on at churches - baptisms, weddings, potlucks, many types of meetings, day care, choir rehearsals, funerals, worship services, confirmations. Churches are associated with life in all its variety and splendor, in all its sorrow and pain. The church reminds us that the story of Jesus is more about life than about death.

Put First Things First
The struggle of human existence is to let God be God.
Denzel Washington says, “I walked into the house one day and feeling full of myself, a movie star, said, ‘Mother, did you ever think this was all going to happen?’ She responded, ‘Oh please, go wash the windows for me. You have no idea how many people have been praying for you when you were a knucklehead.’”
C.S. Lewis says, “When I learn to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.” When we put first things first, second things are not suppressed, but increased.

The Right Kind of Power
Dynamite is a powerful device for blowing away part of a mountain, but for the purpose of blowing out candles on a birthday cake, it is not very effective. Atomic bombs and nuclear-tipped missiles are great for destroying life as we know it on this planet, but if the purpose is to cleanse our hearts of hate and to help people to find their way to peace with God and with each other, then the atomic bomb is not the kind of power that is needed. The power that is needed is the power to accomplish a purpose. This is the kind of power that Jesus claims. He does not claim a power of coercion, but the power of persuasion. He does not claim a power of force, but a power of devotion from within. He does not claim a dictatorial power, but the power where people can freely choose.

Humanity’s total digital output currently stands at 8,000,000 petabytes - which each represent a million gigabytes - but is expected to pass 1.2 zettabytes this year.
One zettabyte is equal to one million petabytes, or 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 individual bytes. The current size of the world’s digital content is equivalent to all the information that could be stored on 75bn Apple iPads, or the amount that would be generated by everyone in the world posting messages on the microblogging site Twitter constantly for a century. The first survey, which was conducted in 2007, estimated that the digital universe was equivalent to 161,000 petabytes.

WHY GOD MADE MOMS "Why God made moms" answers given by elementary school age children to the following questions.
Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
How did God make mothers?
1. He used dirt, just like for the rest of us.
2. Magic plus super powers and a lot of stirring.
What ingredients are mothers made of?
1. God makes mothers out of clouds and angel hair and everything nice in the world and one dab of mean.
2. They had to get their start from men's bones. Then they mostly us string, I think.
What kind of little girl was your mom?
1. My mom has always been my mom and none of that other stuff.
2. I don't know because I wasn't there, but my guess would be pretty bossy.
3. They say she used to be nice.
What did mom need to know about dad before she married him?
1. His last name.
2. She had to know his background. Like is he a crook? Does he get drunk on beer?
3. Does he make at least $800 a year? Did he say NO to drugs and YES to chores?
Why did your mom marry your dad?
1. My dad makes the best spaghetti in the world. And my mom eats a lot.
2. She got too old to do anything else with him.
3. My grandma says that mom didn't have her thinking cap on.
Who's the boss at your house?
1. Mom doesn't want to be boss, but she has to because dad's such a goof ball.
2. Mom. You can tell by room inspection. She sees the stuff under the bed.
3. I guess Mom is, but only because she has a lot more to do than dad.
What's the difference between moms and dads?
1. Moms work at work & work at home, & dads just go to work at work.
2. Moms know how to talk to teachers without scaring them.
3. Dads are taller & stronger, but moms have all the real power 'cause that's who you got to ask if you want to sleep over at your friend's. Moms have magic, they make you feel better without medicine.
What does your mom do in her spare time?
1. Mothers don't do spare time.
2. To hear her tell it, she pays bills all day long.
What would it take to make your mom perfect?
1. On the inside she's already perfect. Outside, I think some kind of plastic surgery.
2. Diet. You know, her hair. I'd diet, maybe blue.
If you could change one thing about your mom, what would it be?
1. She has this weird thing about me keeping my room clean. I'd get rid of that.
2. I'd make my mom smarter. Then she would know it was my sister who did it and not me.
3. I would like for her to get rid of those invisible eyes on her back.

"One person with passion is better than forty who are merely interested." -- Thomas K. Connellan

The Meanest Mom
Was your Mom mean?? I know mine was.
We had the meanest mother in the whole world!
While other kids ate candy for breakfast, we had to have cereal, eggs and toast.
When others had a Pepsi and a Twinkie for lunch, we had to eat sandwiches.
And you can guess our mother fixed us a dinner that was different from what other kids had, too.
Mother insisted on knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were convicts in a prison. She had to know who our friends were, and what we were doing with them.
She insisted that if we said we would be gone for an hour, we would be gone for an hour or less.
We were ashamed to admit it, but she had the nerve to break the Child Labor Laws by making us work. We had to wash the dishes, make the beds, learn to cook, vacuum the floor, do laundry, and all sorts of cruel jobs. I think she would lie awake at night thinking of more things for us to do.
She always insisted on us telling the truth the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. By the time we were teenagers, she could read our minds. Then, life was really tough!
Mother wouldn't let our friends just honk the horn when they drove up. They had to come up to the door so she could meet them. While everyone else could date when they were 12 or 13, we had to wait until we were 16.
Because of our mother we missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. None of us have ever been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other's property or ever arrested for any crime.
It was all her fault. We never got drunk, took up smoking, stayed out all night, or a million other things other kids did.
Sundays were reserved for church, and we never missed once. We knew better than to ask to spend the night with a friend on Saturdays. Now that we have left home, we are all God-fearing, educated, honest, adults.
We are doing our best to be mean parents just like Mom was. I think that is what's wrong with the world today. It just doesn't have enough mean Moms anymore.

May 2

2010-08-12T22:27:00.000-07:00

"Determine that the thing can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way." -- Abraham Lincoln

"The highest form of success comes to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship or from bitter toil, and who, out of these, wins the splendid ultimate triumph." -- Theodore Roosevelt

"We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing must be attained." -- Marie Curie

"The hunger for love is much more difficult to remove than the hunger for bread." -- Mother Theresa

"Appreciate people. Nothing gives more joy than appreciation." -- Ruth Smeltzer

"Who can save a child from a burning house without taking the risk of being hurt by the flames? Who can take away suffering without entering it?" -- Henry Nouwen

"No trumpets sound when the important decisions of our life are made. Destiny is made known silently." -- Agnes De Mille

An 11-year-old boy was doing his violin practice at home and the torturous noise was making the dog howl. Upstairs the boy's father was trying to work on the computer. After putting up with the combined racket of the violin and the dog's wailing for 20 minutes, the father eventually called out, "Jason, can't you play something the dog doesn't know?"

The Impact of Working Together
Anthills are made when a bunch of insignificant creatures get together.
If you ever mistakenly step on an anthill without shoes, their fellowship will make an impact on you. One ant bite might sting a little. Most folks can handle that. But if a person messes with the whole family in an anthill, those ants will gather around your foot and serve notice that you are unwelcome in their house.

One ant can't create that kind of impact by itself. Gathered together, their combined effect is much greater. Not only do they ward off intruders together, they will also work together to rebuild in a day-and-a-half what was destroyed. By Tony Evans.

You will never have a friend if you must have one without faults. -- Italian Proverb

* “We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.” – Jim Rohm
* "Few sinners are saved after the first 20 minutes of a sermon." —Mark Twain
"God grant me the ability
to reject the things about me
that are not true,
the humility to accept
the things that are, and the discernment
to know the difference."

Fewer Young Adults Attending Church
According to a new survey by a Christian research firm, a majority of young adults, age 18 to 29, don't pray, don't worship and don't read the Bible.
The research, conducted by LifeWay Christian Resources, revealed that:
* Sixty-five percent identify themselves as Christian, while 14 percent say they are atheist or agnostic, 14 percent list no religious preference, and 8 percent claim other religions.
* Sixty-five percent rarely or never pray with others, and 38 percent almost never pray by themselves either.
* Sixty-five percent rarely or never attend worship services.
* Sixty-seven percent don't read the Bible or sacred texts.
* Seventy-two percent say they're "really more spiritual than religious."
* Many are unsure Jesus is the only path to heaven: Half say, yes — half say, no.
"We have dumbed down what it means to be part of the church so much that it means almost nothing, even to people who already say they are part of the church," says Thom Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources.

"Your integrity will affect your destiny, don't leave home without it." -- Clarence E. Hodges

"Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it." -- Lou Holtz

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mohandas Gandhi

"Don't wait. The time will never be just right." --Napoleon Hill

"Alexander, Caesar, and Hannibal conquered the world but had no friends.... Jesus founded his empire upon love, and at this hour millions would die for him.... He has won the hearts of men, a task a conqueror cannot do." -- Napoleon

"God hasn't promised us tomorrow, but he has promised us eternity." — Tony Snow
"Remember that as a teenager you are at the last stage of your life when you will be happy to hear that the phone is for you." - Fran Lebowitz

"Many church leaders decry the decline of biblical literacy and knowledge among the younger generations. Rightly so; many teenagers don't even know what they believe, or why. But the leaders are pointing fingers at the wrong culprits. The debate shouldn't be between entertainment versus biblical education. We ought to be discussing (loudly and openly) the difference between ineffective instruction and truly life-changing instruction." - Jeff White, Holy Wow

"Busyness does not equal effectiveness." - Doug Fields, What Matters Most

A CHARTERED BUS was rolling along the highway to a football game when one rider turned to his companion and said, "I feel guilty. Here it’s Sunday and I’m going to a football game instead of church."
"What would you be doing in church?" his friend asked. "Listening to the sermon," the man replied. "Well, why don’t you act as if you were in church listening to the sermon," the friend suggested. The man thought this was a terrific idea. So he settled back into his seat and fell asleep.

When you're too busy for family, friends or most importantly, God you really are too busy.

God gives every bird its food, but He does not throw it in the nest.

The Church in Action From time to time we hear statistics about how people first came into church membership. These figures trace back to the Institute for American Church Growth, which asked 10,000 people about their pilgrimage. What led them in? Answers were:
Special need, 2 percent;
Walk-in, 3 percent;
Pastor, 6 percent;
Visitation, 1 percent;
Sunday school, 5 percent;
Evangelistic crusade, 5 percent;
Program, 3 percent;
Friend/relative, 79 percent.
SO....get out there and spread the word!!

April 25

2010-08-12T22:25:00.000-07:00

Love people, not their values – God loves people (John 3:16), but that doesn’t mean he loves the values of the world. The Apostle John warns us not to “love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.” (1 John 2:15 MSG)
"You don't have to be alone in your hurt! Comfort is yours. Joy is an option. And it's all been made possible by your Savior. He went without comfort so you might have it. He postponed joy so you might share in it. He willingly chose isolation so you might never be alone in your hurt and sorrow." - Joni Eareckson Tada

Always drive as if the police were following you.

A good piece of chocolate has about 200 calories. As I enjoy 2 servings per night, and a few more on weekends. I consume 3,500 calories of chocolate in a week, which equals one pound of weight per week.
Therefore... In the last 3 1/2 years, I have had chocolate caloric intake of about 180 pounds, and I only weigh 165 pounds, so without chocolate, I would have wasted away to nothing about 3 months ago! I owe my life to chocolate.
We live in an age of information - but a great part of that is misinformation
"Parents, what are your children learning from your worship? Do they see the same excitement as when you go to a basketball game? Do they see you prepare for worship as you do for a vacation? Do they see you hungry to arrive, seeking the face of the Father? Or do they see you content to leave the way you came?.....They are watching. Believe me. They are watching." - Max Lucado

"The churches are fighting one another over theological debates, when we should be fighting for people who can't read or don't have enough to eat...I think you can profess the Apostles' Creed until Jesus returns, but if you don't love somebody, you were never a Christian." - Rich Mullins, the "Awesome God" guy

Teens "Addicted" to Texting – Four out of five teens admit to sleeping with their cell phones or keeping them near their beds. In fact, nearly one out of three teens between 12 and 17-years-old send over 100 texts a day, reports a study by Pew Research Center®. The average adult sends just 10 text messages per day, but older teenage girls — aged 14-17 — send about 3,000 per month. One 16-year-old girl, who sends about 4,000 texts per month, now has carpal tunnel syndrome and needs surgery. [CBSNews.com]

Nibbled Lost – The story is told of a farmer who had just rescued a lost sheep. When asked how the sheep got lost, the farmer replied, "They just nibble themselves lost. They go from one tuft of grass to another, until at last they've lost their way." That's what happens in life, isn't it? We nibble away at life with little purpose or direction, until it's gone and we have no idea where it went.
In a world that’s increasingly more scattered and scared, our task as Christ’s Church is to translate and transmit the voice of the Good Shepherd to all those who are lost, hurting, and alone. It’s also about following Jesus’ example and welcoming everyone into the fold. Even we sheep should be able to understand that.

Never make a permanent decision based on a temporary storm. No matter how raging the billows are today, remind yourself: "This too shall pass!"
There is profound theology in the words of the little girl who began to recite the 23rd Psalm "The Lord is my shepherd, that's all I want."
A Bleat of Pain from A Bleat of Joy - I read that “cows are herded from the rear by hooting cowboys with cracking whips, but that will not work with sheep. Stand behind them making loud noises and all they will do is run around behind you, because sheep prefer to follow. You push cows, but you lead sheep, and they will not go anywhere that someone else does not go first – namely their shepherd – the one who goes ahead of them to show them that everything is all right.
"Sheep tend to grow fond of their shepherds. Shepherds can walk through a sleeping flock without disturbing any of them, while a stranger could not come close without causing pandemonium. Sheep seem to consider their shepherds to be part of their family. They develop their own language. A good shepherd can distinguish a bleat of pain from a bleat of joy. Sheep learn that a certain click of the tongue means it’s time to eat and a certain whistle means it’s time to go.
The hardest thing to learn in life is which bridge to cross and which to burn.

"Inspiration without perspiration leads to frustration and stagnation." -- Bill Bright

"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is." -- Unknown

You ought not to sanitize the Bible, the Bible ought to be sanitizing you.

April 11

2010-08-12T22:23:00.000-07:00

A pastor friend put sanitary hot air hand dryers in the rest rooms at his church and after two weeks took them out.
I asked him why and he confessed that they worked fine but when he went in there he saw a sign that read, "For a sample of this week's sermon, push the button."
Easter is Death in Reverse
The bones recalcified.
The joints ligamented
The muscles retendoned
The veins blood filled
The heart restarted
The nerves electrified
The skin saturated
And up from the grave He arose

Benjamin Franklin's Epitaph In one of his lighter moments, Benjamin Franklin penned his own epitaph. Franklin didn't profess to be an orthodox Christian; he was more a deist, a believer in a clock-maker God, who made the universe and has left it alone. But it seems he must have been influenced by the Church's teaching of the resurrection. Here's the epitaph he wrote for himself:
"The body of B. Franklin, printer, like the cover of an old book its contents torn out, and stripped of its lettering and guilding, lies here, food for worms, but the work shall not be wholly lost: For it will, as he believ'd, appear once more in a new & more perfect edition, corrected and amended by the author."

Ants in The Pants of Faith
Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God, if you don't have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep. Doubts are the ants in the pants of faith. They keep it awake and moving. Frederick Buechner
If a man will begin in certainties, he shall end in doubts; but if he will be content to begin with doubts, he shall end in certainties. Francis Bacon

Easter Calendar - Easter is the only day on the Christian Calendar that is set by the moon. In the Western Church Easter falls on the first Sunday after the first full moon on or after the Spring equinox. All this makes ancient sense (believe it or not), since it means that Easter coincides, in our part of the world at least, with the greening of the earth.
"The date of the triumph of Jesus is Good Friday, not Easter Day. Yet if the story had ended there, the victory would have been barren. What remains is not to win it, but to gather in its fruits. Consequently St. John does not present the Resurrection as a mighty act by which the hosts of evil are routed, but rather as the quiet rising of the sun which has already vanquished night. The atmosphere of the story has all the sweet freshness of dawn on a spring day." William Temple

You can’t hide from God by missing church.
The prayer closets of God’s people are where the roots of the church grow.
Religious differences are not nearly so disastrous as religious indifferences.
The way to preserve peace in the church is to preserve the purity of it.
Some people who watch “Saturday Night Live” come to church “Sunday Morning Dead.”

After the baptism of his baby brother in church, little Johnny sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, "That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys."

The richest 2% of the world's population owns more than half of the world's household wealth. The findings may be surprising, for what makes people "wealthy" across the world spectrum is a relatively low bar.
The research indicates that assets of just $2,200 per adult place a household in the top half of the world's wealthiest. To be among the richest 10% of adults in the world, just $61,000 in assets is needed. If you have more than $500,000, you're part of the richest 1%, the United Nations study says. Indeed, 37 million people now belong in that category. Half live on less than $2 a day. Sure, you can now be proud that you're rich. But take a moment to think about it, and you'll probably come to realize that the meaning behind these numbers is harrowing. For if it takes just a couple of thousand dollars to qualify as rich in this world, imagine what it means to be poor.
Half the world, nearly 3 billion people, live on less than $2 a day. The three richest people in the world –- Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, investor Warren Buffett and Mexican telecom mogul Carlos Slim Helú -- have more money than the poorest 48 nations combined.

OVERCOMING THE NEGATIVE
"I keep the telephone of my mind open to peace, harmony, health, love and abundance. Then whenever doubts, anxiety, or fear try to call me, they keep getting a busy signal - and soon they'll forget my number." -- Edith Armstrong

"De-program yourself. The news is not the news. It is the bad news. It is deliberately shocking. The more you accept it as the news, the more you believe that 'that's the way it is,' and the more fearful and cynical you will become." -- Steve Chandler

"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." -- John Wooden

"Issue a blanket pardon. Forgive everyone who has ever hurt you in any way. Forgiveness is a perfectly selfish act. It sets you free from the past." -- Brian Tracy

"If you wish to reach the highest, begin at the lowest." -- Publilius Syrus

"Start from wherever you are and with whatever you've got." -- Jim Rohn

What is even more powerful than the reception Jesus received as He began the countdown of the most important week in human history is that when He left the city out of the western gate the following Friday, carrying a cross, and now mocked by the same crowd, He was doing what only a king can do for His people. He was laying down His life so that when we receive Him as King of our hearts, we someday can have a triumphal entry into another city—the city of heaven.
1. --Tim Roehl

2. Give me proof - give
me something I can touch and see - and I will believe.

"There is no money crisis, only an idea crisis. We need new ideas on how we can do what we really want to do." -- Mark Victor Hansen

"Money never starts an idea; it's the idea that starts the money." -- Mark Victor Hansen

WHAT'S 'NORMAL' FOR CHURCHES TODAY? Half of all congregations have fewer
than 100 regularly participating adults, 25% have fewer than 50. Fewer than 10% of congregations have more than 1,000 participating adults. Fifty-two percent of congregations are located in small towns and open country. More than two-out-of-three congregations report sponsoring or supporting a thrift shop. More than one-third are involved in tutoring. More than 80% have or support a food pantry. Most of the growing churches have informal services, preaching styles that are narrative or story-telling, and emphasize prayer and music (especially electronic).

Secrets Of Great Golf
A reporter was interviewing Jack Nicklaus. He said, "Jack, you are spectacular, your name is synonymous with the game of golf. You really know your way around the course. What is your secret?"
To which Jack replied, "The holes are numbered!"

Thoughts on Doubt ...
✓ Christ never failed to distinguish between doubt and unbelief. Doubt is can't believe; unbelief is won't believe. Doubt is honesty; unbelief is obstinacy. Doubt is looking for light; unbelief is content with darkness. John Drummond (1851-1897)
✓ Doubt is the disease of this inquisitive, restless age. It is the price we pay for our advanced intelligence and civilization -the dim night of our resplendent day. But as the most beautiful light is born of darkness, so the faith that springs from conflict is often the strongest and the best. Billy Graham (1918- )

April 18

2010-08-12T22:21:00.000-07:00

Most of Unchurched Consider Themselves Christian
A new study, released this week by The Barna Group, shows that millions of Americans do not attend church, and that a large majority of those who stay home on Sunday consider themselves to be Christian. The research, which was based on phone interviews with 4,020 adults between August of 2009 and February of 2010, revealed that:
* In the past six months, 28 percent of the adult population has not attended any church service or activity. When children are included, this translates to more than 100 million people.
* In the United States, 83 percent of all adults identify themselves as "Christian."
* Of those who have not attended church for at least six months, 61 percent label themselves "Christian."
* Two-thirds (68%) of the Christians who do not attend church hold a biblical view of God, but only one-third (35%) agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all the principles it teaches.
Past studies of those who do not attend church have revealed that one of the main reasons for not attending is the painful experiences endured within the local church context. A previous Barna study shows that 37 percent of unchurched Americans said they avoid church because of negative past experiences in the church or with church people. For the complete report, visit The Barna Group.

Last Supper Paintings Point to Supersized Portions
Researchers in a new study used 52 famous paintings depicting the Last Supper to show that, over the past millennium, plate and food portion sizes have grown larger throughout history, possibly foretelling today's supersized portions. The study — published in the April 2010 issue of the International Journal of Obesity — indicates that the size of the entrees in Last Supper paintings has progressively increased by 66 percent, plate size by 66 percent and bread size by 23 percent.

"If ever a time should come when vain and aspiring men shall possess highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." – Samuel Adams

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." – Albert Einstein
"He who has no vision of eternity will never get a true hold of time." – Thomas Carlyle
"Every artist was first an amateur." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The most important thing about goals is ... having one." – Geoffry F. Abert
"Don't be fooled into thinking Satan is merely a symbol of evil. He is real." – Author Unknown

We become vulnerable to temptation when we are dissatisfied with our lives. The deeper our dissatisfaction, the deeper our vulnerability, because we are made for soul satisfaction.
We cannot live without it. If we do not find soul satisfaction in God, we will look for it somewhere else, because we will look for it John Ortberg, 'The Me I Want to Be'

Jesus Had No Servants
Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
Had no army, yet kings feared Him.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.
Feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us. Author Unknown

There's a story about a visitor to a heavy-duty grease factory. He says the visitors were ushered into a large room and a tour host introduced them to the company history and the number of employees at work producing the best machine lubricants in the world.
They toured the noisy factory, with lots of machinery and wheels whirling, mixing, packaging-incredible activity. As the tour ended, one of the visitors said, "I didn't see
a shipping department." The guide responded, "Well, we don't have a shipping department because it takes all the grease we make to lubricate our equipment and keep the wheels turning."
Someone concluded: Friends, the Church is the best lubricated grease factory in all of history. What's missing is the shipping department. The church does not exist for itself; it exists to bring others to a commitment to Jesus Christ.

"When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters--one represents danger and the other represents opportunity." -- John F. Kennedy

April 4

2010-08-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

As you leave the fellowship, recall that there is
Life after death.
Love your neighbor and your self —
Exclaiming often that the source of life is God who
Loves all Creation!
Utilize your talents to make the world an “Easter place,”
Integrating “resurrection newness” into your thinking and your decisions.
Align yourself with the living Christ who invites you and me to spiritual adventure.

"A loving person lives in a loving world. A hostile person lives in a hostile world. Everyone you meet is your mirror."

ALL I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIFE I LEARNED FROM THE EASTER BUNNY
Don't put all of your eggs in one basket
Walk softly and carry a big carrot
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears
There's no such thing as too much candy
All work and no play can make you a basket case
A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day
Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits !
Some body parts should be floppy
Keep your paws off other people's jellybeans
Good things come in small sugarcoated packages
The grass is always greener in someone else's basket
An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare
To show your true colors you have to come out of your shell
The best things in life are still sweet and gooey !!!

Eat Those Chocolate Easter Eggs A new study has been released — just in time for those chocolate Easter eggs — with evidence that chocolate not only tastes good, but is also good for you. Substances in cocoa known as flavonols — which appear to increase levels of nitric oxide — may have a variety of health benefits, especially for the heart. Dark chocolate has more of these flavanols, which lower blood pressure and reduce the risk for blood clots, which can cause heart attacks and strokes. Those who ate about 7.5 grams of chocolate per day had a reduced risk of the above mentioned health problems compared with those who ate an average of 1.7 grams per day. However, researchers cautioned that people would have to cut back on other kinds of snacks to offset the calories from the chocolate and avoid gaining weight. [WashingtonPost.com]

A new survey released by The Barna Group reveals that one out of every three adults (33%) is classified as unchurched--meaning they have not attended a religious service of any type during the past six months.
An estimated 73 million adults are presently unchurched. When teens and children are added, the total swells to roughly 100 million Americans.

Imagine that God and Satan have been playing a cosmic chess game with the fate of mankind at stake. Satan appeared to have the upper hand ... that is, until God made a surprising move -- He put Christ on the cross, declaring, "Checkmate."

• Millions of Chocolate Easter Bunnies Sold About 90 million chocolate bunnies are produced for Easter. Solid chocolate bunnies are favored by 42 percent with hollow chocolate bunnies coming in second with 21 percent. If you enjoy marshmallow-filled bunnies, you are among 10 percent of the chocolate bunny eaters.

THE FOG WILL LIFT Today I am one day nearer home than before. One day nearer the dawning when the fog will lift, mysteries clear, and all question marks straighten up into exclamation points! --Vance Havner

IT MAY BE TIME TO GET STARTED Having the world's best idea will do you no good unless you act on it. People who want milk shouldn't sit on a stool in the middle of a field in
hopes that a cow will back up to them. --Curtis Grant in "Nation's Business"

SIT QUIETLY IN HIS PRESENCE To sit in the oval office in the presence of the President of the United States is a great honor, even if one says not a word. How much greater to sit quietly in the presence of the King of Kings. --Bill Patterson

HOW ENDURING THE LEAST WORD GOD HAS SPOKEN The empire of Caesar is gone; the legions of Rome are smoldering in the dust; the avalanches that Napoleon hurled upon Europe have melted away; the prince of the Pharaohs is fallen; the pyramids they raised to be their tombs are sinking every day in the desert sands; Tyre is a rock for bleaching fisherman's nets; Sidon has scarcely left a wreck behind; but the Word of God still survives. All things that threatened to extinguish it have only aided it; and it proves every day how transient is the noblest monument that men can build, how enduring is the least word that God has spoken. --Albert Baird Cummins

**Joy is distinctly a Christian word and a Christian thing. It is the reverse of happiness. Happiness is the result of what happens of an agreeable sort. Joy has its springs deep down inside. And that spring never runs dry, no matter what happens. Only Jesus gives that joy. He had joy, singing its music within, even under the shadow of the cross. --Samuel Dickey Gordon (1859-1936)

**Easter can be described in many ways, but joy is one adjective that is it full of. Understand this: the Stoic bears, the Epicurean seeks to enjoy, the Buddhist and Hindu stand apart disillusioned, the Muslim submits, but only the Christian exults in joy. And that is the message of Easter!

"Worry looks around, sorry looks back, Faith looks up."

March 28

2010-08-12T22:18:00.000-07:00

It costs God nothing, so far as we know, to create nice things; but to convert rebellious wills cost Him crucifixion. -- C. S. Lewis
Put your will in neutral, so God can shift you.

When God was ready to judge the world with a flood, He came to Noah. When He desired to build a nation for Himself, He turned to Abraham. When He heard His children groaning under Egyptian bondage, He appeared in a burning bush to Moses. They were three of the most ordinary of men. But God had work to do, and He knew just who to do it with. God has always given His people assignments that are too big for them to handle alone, so that a watching world can see—not what we can do—but what God can do. --Henry Blackaby

“Let us step into the darkness and reach out for the hand of God. The path of faith and darkness is so much safer than the one we would choose by sight." George MacDonald

Penney Schwab's grandsons, six-year-old Ryan and four-year-old David, were visiting her church for Easter Sunday service. Penney explained to each boy that the pastor would give them a small cross during children's time to remind them of how Jesus died for them. At this point, young David announced, "I think I'd rather stand outside with my basket and wait for the Easter bunny."
Isn't that just like us adults, too? We don't want the true story of Easter-the suffering, the sacrifice, the death and despair. We want the warm and fuzzy unreality of the Easter bunny instead. -- Penney Schwab. Daily Guideposts, 1998

“There are many who have a great deal of this life in their hands, but nothing of the other life in their hearts.” Matthew Henry

“Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.” P. J. O'Rourke

"The best vitamin for a Christian -- B1." -- Author Unknown

"Without ambition, one starts nothing. Without work, one finishes nothing. The prize will not be sent to you. You have to win it." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

SOME WISDOM FROM LARRY THE CABLE GUY
1. A day without sunshine is like night.
2. On the other hand, you have different fingers.
3. 42.7 percent of all statistics are made up on the spot.
4. 99 percent of lawyers give the rest a bad name.
5. Remember, half the people you know are below average.
6. He who laughs last, thinks slowest.
7. Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
8. The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.
9. Support bacteria. They're the only culture some people have.
10. A clear conscience is usually the sign of a bad memory.
11. Change is inevitable, except from vending machines.
12. If you think nobody cares, try missing a couple of payments.
13. How many of you believe in psycho-kinesis? Raise my hand.
14. OK, so what's the speed of dark?
15. When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
16. Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
17. How much deeper would the ocean be without sponges?
18. Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines
19. What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?
20. Why do psychics have to ask you for your name?
21. Inside every older person is a younger person wondering, "What the hell happened?"
22. Just remember--if the world didn't suck, we would all fall off.
23. Light travels faster than sound. That's why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

One Author tells of viewing the Oberammergau Passion Play in Germany a few years ago. Every ten years, the citizens of Oberammergau stage the story of Jesus' life and crucifixion. People come from all over the world to view the play. As he watched the play, he also observed the irony going on around him. As Jesus drove the money-changers out of the temple, vendors wandered among the crowd and sold over-priced religious trinkets. As the soldiers attempted to quench Jesus' thirst on the cross, the audience gulped down their Cokes and crunched on the ice. In spite of the distractions, he reports that the message of the play still came through. As he wrote, "Even amid the clamor and commercialism, I had felt the power of his inexplicable peace."

Something to Die For... "Even if they try to kill you, you develop the inner conviction that there are some things so precious, some things so eternally true that they are worth dying for. And if a person has not found something to die for, that person isn't fit to live!" Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"A veteran--whether active duty, retired, national guard or reserve--is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to The United States of America, for an amount of 'up to and including my life.' That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it." -- Author Unknown

He Expected Fruit
The disciples come upon a fig tree which is showing a burst of new leaves. But Jesus looks among them, and says that there is no fruit. He expected fruit. It is the condemnation of promise without fulfillment. Charles Lamb told of a certain man in whose life, he said, there were three stages. When he was young, people said of him, "He will do something." As he grew older and did nothing, they said of him, "He could do something if he tried." Towards the end of his life they said of him, "He might have done something, if he had tried." That could be the epitaph of too many Christians...and too many churches.

When Lincoln's body was brought from Washington to Illinois, it passed through Albany and it was carried through the street. They say a black woman stood upon the curb and lifted her little son as far as she could reach above the heads of the crowd and was heard to say to him, "Take a long look, honey. He died for you". So, if I could, I would lift up your spirit to see Calvary. Take a long look; He died for you.

Must Suffer and Be Rejected
Jesus Christ must suffer and be rejected. This "must" is inherent in the promise of God - the Scriptures must be fulfilled. There is a distinction here between suffering and rejection. Had he only suffered, Jesus might still have been applauded as the Messiah. All the sympathy and admiration of the world might have been focused on his passion. It could have been viewed as a tragedy with its own intrinsic value, dignity and honor. But in the passion, Jesus is a rejected Messiah. His rejection robs the passion of its halo of glory. It must be a passion without honor. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship,

A Shoe Clerk Named Moody.... A 19th century Sunday School teacher named Kimball led a shoe clerk named Moody to Jesus Christ. Dwight L. Moody became a famous evangelist who influenced Frederick B. Meyer to preach on college campuses. Meyer led J. Wilbur Chapman to the Lord. Chapman while working with the YMCA arranged for Billy Sunday to come to Charlotte, North Carolina to attend revival meetings. Community leaders in Charlotte scheduled another revival with Mordecai Hamm. Under Hamm's preaching Billy Graham gave his heart to Jesus Christ. Billy Graham has preached to more people than any man in history. I am sure this Sunday School teacher in Boston had no idea what would happen from leading a shoe clerk to Christ.
As we examine this passage of Scripture, I encourage you to look at the owner of the donkey and his response to the king who entered into Jerusalem that day.

The number of items handled by the post office fell from 213 billion in 2006 to 177 billion last year. Volume is expected to shrink to 150 billion by 2020.
There's an old adage popular among lawyers: If your case is weak on the law, pound the facts. If it's weak on the facts, pound the law. If your case is weak on the facts and the law, pound the table."
Wherever we are in our journey of life, whatever "page we are on" in our own biography of living; the ending is no tragedy--the ending is a new beginning.

Guess Who? Wanted By:
the FDA for turning water into wine without a license,
the EPA for killing fig trees, the AMA for practicing medicine without a license,
the Dept. of Health for asking people to open graves, for raising the dead and for feeding 5,000 people in the wilderness,
the NEA for teaching without a certificate, OSHA for walking on water without a lifejacket and for flying without an airplane, the SPCA for driving hogs into the sea,
the NATIONAL BOARD of PSYCHIATRISTS for giving advice on how to live a guilt-free life,
the NOW for not choosing a woman apostle, the INTERFAITH MOVEMENT for condemning all other religions, and by the ZONING DEPT for building mansions without a permit. Guess Who?

"Answer the big question of eternity, and the little questions of life fall into perspective." - Max Lucado

For God so loved the world that he didn't send a committee.

March 14

2010-08-12T22:16:00.000-07:00

There are 3 kinds of people
Those who make things happen,
Those who watch things happen ~~and~~
Those who wonder what happened.

I joined a health club last year; spent about 400 bucks. Haven't lost a pound. Apparently you have to show up.

I have to exercise early in the morning ... before my brain figures out what I'm doing.

I don't exercise at all. If God meant us to touch our toes, he would have put them further up our bodies.

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me.

If you are going to try cross-country skiing, start with a small country.

"The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune." -- Plutarch

Worrying is paying interest on a debt you might not even owe." -- Mark Twain

"To be conscious that you are ignorant of the facts is a great step to knowledge." -- Benjamin Disraeli

"The ability to summon positive emotions during periods of intense stress lies at the heart of effective leadership." -- Jim Loehr

"One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life." -- Edward Butler

"I believe that one reason why the church of God at this present moment has so little influence over the world is because the world has so much influence over the church." -- Charles H. Spurgeon

The story is told of a father who took his two boys one afternoon to play miniature golf.
The father walked up to the man at the ticket counter and said, "How much is it to get in?" The young man replied, "Three dollars for you and three dollars for any kid who is older than six. We let them in for free if they are six or younger. How old are your two?" The father replied, "This one is three and the other one is seven, so I owe you $6.00."
The young man at the ticket counter said, "Hey mister, did you just win the lottery or something? You could have saved yourself three bucks if you would have told me that the older one was six; I wouldn't have known the difference."
The father replied, "Yes, that may be true, but the kids would have known the difference...."
"The integrity of the upright will guide them..." (Proverbs 11:3).

He was born in a stable, so you could live in his palace.
“Christ chose a stable so that He could identify with the least of us,
With the poor and vulnerable.
He demanded none of the world’s comforts nor protections.
Jesus came exposed, from the first moment, to all the dangers the world could offer, and so He remained until they led Him to the cross.
He chose the least so that you might have the most.
He entered by the stable that you might dwell forever in the palace.”

There was the story of the Lutheran who was out hiking when it started to rain. In fact it was torrential, so the hiker crawled into a hollow log for shelter. After the rain had continued for many hours he found the log had swollen and he was firmly fixed, in fact stuck in the log. No matter how hard he tried he could not escape. Thinking he was a goner, his whole life passed before him to reflect on. When he came to how much he gave to his church, he shrank so much in shame, he was able to crawl out safely.

Some Rules Kids Won't Learn in School
Rule 1: Life is not fair--get used to it!
Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.
Rule 3: You will NOT make $60,000 a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice-president with a car phone until you earn both.
Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss.
Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping: they called it opportunity.
Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes; learn from them.
Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you thought you were. So before you save the rain forest from the parasites of your parent's generation, try delousing the closet in your own room.
Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life HAS NOT. In some schools, they have abolished failing grades and they'll give you as MANY TIMES as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.
Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off, and very few employers are interested in helping you FIND YOURSELF. Do that on your own time.
Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.
Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.
--by Charles J. Sykes, author of the 1996 book, "Dumbing Down our Kids: Why American Kids Feel Good About Themselves, but Can't Read, Write, or Add."

The average cinema bucket of buttered popcorn has 76 grams (2.6oz) of fat — the equivalent of six McDonald’s cheeseburgers — and 1,100 calories.

Drive carefully around the children-we value our tax deduction.

Many marriages would be better if the husband and wife clearly understood that they're on the same side. Zig Ziglar

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these." -- George Washington Carver

After a caller told the Humane Society in Battle Creek, Michigan, about two ducks trapped by the ice on a pond, shelter manager Mike Pearson rushed right over. He inched his way out a considerable distance and, as onlookers stood by, gently gathered up the ducks and
made his way back to safety. Both of the wooden decoys were expected to survive.

Money is on everyone''s mind these days. It was no different two thousand years ago. Jesus knew that money was a major matter to most people. That is why he talked more about money than any other subject,

School Discipline A survey that compared the worst discipline problems in public schools in the 1940s and the 1990s. In the 1940s the worst discipline problems in public schools were: talking, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, getting out of turn in line, wearing improper clothes, not putting paper in wastebaskets!
Some of the worst problems in the 1990s [and 2000] are: drug abuse, alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery, assault.

Finding one of her students making faces at others on the playground, Ms. Smith stopped to gently reprove the child. Smiling sweetly, the teacher said, "Bobby, when I was a child, I was told if I made ugly faces, it would freeze and I would stay like that." Bobby looked up and innocently replied, "Well, Ms. Smith, you can't say you weren't warned."

Morris goes on vacation to the Holy Land with his wife and mother-in-law. The mother-in-law dies. They go to an undertaker who explains that they can ship the body home but that it'll cost over $5000, whereas they can bury her in the Holy Land for only $150. Morris says, "We'll ship her home." The undertaker asks, "Are you sure? That's an awfully big expense and
we can do a very nice burial here." Morris says, "Look, 2000 years ago you buried a guy here and three days later he rose from the dead. I just refuse to take that kind of chance.

Henry Ford once asked an associate about his life goals. The man replied that his goal was to make a million dollars. A few days later Ford gave the man a pair of glasses made out of two silver dollars. He told the man to put them on and asked what he could see. "Nothing," the man said. "The dollars are in the way." Ford told him that he wanted to teach him a lesson: If his only goal was dollars, he would miss a host of greater opportunities. He should invest himself in serving others not simply in making money.

March 14

2010-08-12T22:15:00.000-07:00

When we rely upon organization, we get what organization can do;
when we rely upon education, we get what education can do;
when we rely upon eloquence, we get what eloquence can do, and so on.
I do not undervalue any of these things in their proper place, but when we rely upon prayer, we get what God can do. A.C. Dixon

The Christian does not say, "What cannot be cured must be endured." Christianity says, rather, that these things must be endured because they are part of the cure. They have the strange and mystic power to make whole and strong and so to lead on to victory and the final glory. Christianity is never the dour pessimism that submits. Christianity is optimism that cooperates with the process because it sees that, through suffering and weakness, joy and triumph must come. --G. Campbell Morgan

WHERE THE BIBLE WAS WRITTEN:
The wilderness, The palace, The field, Babylon, Jerusalem, Traveling, Prison, Patmos

A FEW PHONE GROANS
- I tried to call someone the other day from a pay phone but I inserted my donor card instead of my calling card. Man, that call cost me an arm and a leg.
- I took my phone to the beach so I could get call wading.
- If someone is using their cell phone while driving 60 miles per hour, is he or she talking a mile a minute?
- If I ask my girlfriend to marry me over the phone, does that still count as giving her a ring?

Why is it that when you eat too much for lunch, you feel drowsy all afternoon, but when you eat a big meal in the evening, you stay awake all night?

"Justice is getting what we deserve, mercy is not getting what we deserve, and grace is getting what we don't deserve."

Thoughts lead on to purposes;
purposes go forth in action;
actions form habits;
habits decide character;
and character fixes our destiny. Tyron Edwards

Government surveyors came to Ole's farm in the fall and asked if they could do some surveying. Ole agreed and Lena even served them a nice meal at noontime.
The next spring, the two surveyors stopped by and told Ole, "Because you were so kind to us, we wanted to give you this bad news in person instead of by letter.
Ole replied, "What's da bad news?
The surveyors stated, "Well, after our work we discovered your farm is not in Minnesota, but is actually in South Dakota!"
Ole looked at Lena and said," Dat's da best news I haf heard inna long time. Why I yust told Lena dis morning, I don't tink I can take another winter in Minnesota."

"Sometimes our candle goes out, but is blown into flame by an encounter with another human being." – Albert Schweitzer

"There are no shortcuts to any place worth going." – Beverly Sills

"We have a right to choose our attitude." – Viktor Frankl

"Among the English language's many puzzling words is 'economy,' which means the large size in toothpaste and the small size in automobiles." –

A teacher who, for reasons of her own, asked the kids one day, "If all the bad children were painted red and all the good children were painted green, which color would you be?"
Think about it. What color would you be? Red or Green? It is a tough question isn't it when you pose only two options.
One very wise child answered the teacher: "Striped"

An old Arab proverb suggests that the words of the tongue should pass through three gateways: 1) Is it true? 2) Is it kind? 3) Is it necessary?

Perched atop the image of the pyramid is a strange, disembodied eye gazing back at us. Although it is a familiar image, it still manages to convey a kind of creepiness.
This image of the all-seeing eye of God is supposed to symbolize the deity special watchfulness and care over the founding of this novus ordor seclorum – this emerging new democratic experiment called the United States of America.
The first time I learned about God's all-seeing eye was in Sunday school. The teacher who told us about the eye directed us to never forget that God always was watching what we did and would know when we did something wrong.
For much of my life God's eye above the pyramid was an uneasy reminder that God was spying on everything I did – waiting for me to leave the straight and narrow, lurking in the wings to catch me doing something wrong – like lying, swearing, beating on my younger brothers. "God's eye is on you" were words of threat and intimidation. So the back of the dollar bill: "It's not that God's eye is on you, waiting for you to slip up," "God's eye is on you because God loves you so much God just can't take his eyes off you!"
Suddenly what had been a queasy, even fearful image was transformed into a picture of love. A smitten God is keeping a loving, watchful eye on the precious children of creation.

A rookie umpire stood behind the plate at his first game. Legendary fastball pitcher Nolan Ryan was on the mound. The second pitch of the game was so fast that the um-pire didn’t know where it was until he heard the “POP!” of the catcher’s mitt. He froze. Finally he uttered a faint call: “Strike.”
The batter stepped out of the box, went over to the umpire, and patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t feel bad, sir,” said the batter. “I didn’t see it ei-ther.”

Who needs the message of God's love and redemption more than these? Christ did not die to save only "nice people" or those who are just a "little bad." Christ came to offer repentance and forgiveness to all who ask and to all who receive him and his Word. It is the completely lost sheep, the totally disappeared coin, that sets the searcher on an all-out recovery mission.

The Ten Commandments (Minnesota Style)
1. Der's only one God, ya know.
2. Don't make that fish on your mantle an idol.
3. Cussin ain't Minnesota nice.
4. Go to church even when you're up nort.
5. Honor your folks.
6. Don't kill. Catch and release.
7. There's only one Lena for every Ole. No cheatin.
8. If it ain't your lutefisk, don't take it.
9. Don't be braggin bout how much snow ya shoveled.
10. Keep your mind off your neighbor's hotdish.

If you feel you don't love Jesus passionately, your real problem is you don't realize HOW MUCH he passionately loves you. Rick Warren

Charles Spurgeon, pastor of the Metropolitan Tabernacle in London, England, in the 19th century, was once visiting in a home in Scotland. He picked up a very old and well-worn Bible, holding it reverently in his hands, turning it over and over as the looked at it. Then he noticed a small hole where a worm had eaten its way through the Book from cover to cover. When he saw that, Spurgeon prayed, “O Lord, make me a bookworm like that. From Genesis to Revelation it has gone clear through the Bible.”

Some say if you have enough faith, you can put Jesus in a choke hold that eventually forces Him to give you everything you ask. This approach reduces Jesus to a heavenly sugar daddy who can’t say no. You’re arrogant if you think your faith forces Jesus to obey you. He doesn’t obey us. We obey him. --Dan Rockwell

“The true usefulness of our preaching will not be known to us until all the fruit on all the branches on all the trees that have sprung up from all the seeds we've ever sown has fully ripened in the sunshine of eternity.”

Sally was driving home from one of her business trips in Northern Arizona when she saw an elderly Navajo woman walking on the side of the road. As the trip was a long and quiet one, she stopped the car and asked the woman if she would like a ride. With a silent nod of thanks, the woman got into the car. Resuming the journey, Sally tried in vain to make a bit of small talk with the Navajo woman. The old woman just sat silently, looking at everything she saw, studying every little detail, until she noticed a white bag on the seat next to Sally. "What's in the bag?" asked the old woman.
Sally looked down at the bag and, smiling, said, "It's a box of chocolates. I got it for my husband." The Navajo woman was silent for another moment or two. Then speaking with the quiet wisdom of an elder, she said: "Good trade."

March

2010-08-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

Our Chaotic Life
This notice appeared in the window of a coat store in Nottingham, England: "We have been established for over 100 years and have been pleasing and displeasing customers ever since. We have made money and lost money, suffered the effects of coal nationalization, coat rationing, government control and bad payers. We have been cussed and discussed, messed about, lied to, held up, robbed and swindled. The only reason we stay in business is to see what happens next."

"The present generation always discovers what the older generation has already forgotten." ~ Goethe

"Don't judge a man until you've walked two moons in his moccasins." ~ Native American saying.

Presently, 1700 pastors leave the clergy system (pastorate) each month in the United States.

Making the rounds on the internet is a list called "Ten Things God Won't Ask." I've edited them down to eight.
1. God won't ask what kind of car you drove, but God will ask how many people you drove who didn't have transportation.
2. God won't ask the square footage of your house, but God will ask how many people you welcomed into your home.
3. God won't ask about the clothes you had in your closet, but God will ask how many you helped to clothe.
4. God won't ask what your highest salary was, but God will ask if you compromised your character to obtain it.
5. God won't ask what your job title was, but God will ask if you performed your job to the best of your ability.
6. God won't ask how many friends you had, but God will ask how many people to whom you were a friend.
7. God won't ask in what neighborhood you lived, but God will ask how you treated your neighbors.
8. God won't ask about the color of your skin, but God will ask about the content of your character.

If it looked easy, we could do it by ourselves, we would not need God.
When it’s not humanly possible, we need to depend on God.
This will take faith! Keep praying. If it is God’s will, He will provide. He’s already given us the money. We just have to find whose wallets and purses He put it in.
God bless us as we explore the possibilities. May His Holy Spirit give us the wisdom and insight we need for this project.

Using Up the Ground
Soil was at a premium in Israel. It was not unusual for a vineyard owner to give a little bit of his soil up for a fruit tree but the tree took up the best soil, the deepest soil, and required the most water. A fig tree doesn’t grow fruit until three years after planting. The owner in this story, had given the tree “due season” to bear fruit and yet the tree bore no fruit. It took up valuable space and resources. The owner questioned why the tree was allowed to “even use up ground.”
God had given the Israelites the choicest ground. Their land possessed everything necessary to make themselves a great nation, indeed, a light to all nations. They were strategically positioned to send the fruit of God north and south, east and west; but instead, in-fighting continued to make them a worthless fruit tree.
Everyone one of us and all of our churches will have to answer (from God’s perspective) this same question; “Why does it even use up the ground?”

THE BIBLE
When the King James Version was released in 1611, the translators included an "Address to the Reader," which said, in condensed form: "Scripture is a paradise of trees of life, which brings forth fruits every month, and the leaves for medicine. It is a shower of heavenly bread and a cellar full of oil vessels whereby all our necessities may be provided. It is a pantry of
wholesome food against moldy traditions, a pharmacist's shop against poisoned heresies; a code of profitable laws against rebellious spirit; a treasure of costly jewels against beggarly rudiments, a foundation of most pure water springing up into everlasting life."
We are not citizens of this world trying to make our way to heaven; we are citizens of heaven trying to make our way through this world. That radical Christian insight can be lifechanging. We are not to live so as to earn God’s love, inherit heaven, and purchase our salvation. All those are given to us as gifts; gifts bought by Jesus on the cross and handed over to us. We are to live as God’s redeemed, as heirs of heaven, and as citizens of another land: the Kingdom of God…. We live as those who are on a journey home; a home we know will have the lights on and the door open and our Father waiting for us when we arrive. That means in all adversity our worship of God is joyful, our life is hopeful, our future is secure. There is nothing we can lose on earth that can rob us of the treasures God has given us and will give us. --The Landisfarne, via The Anglican Digest

"We lose the approval of The Lord when we seek the applause of men.”

CELL PHONE vs. BIBLE
- I wonder what would happen if we treated our Bible like we treat our cellphone?
- What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
- What if we flipped through it several time a day?
- What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
- What if we used it to receive messages from the text?
- What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
- What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
- What if we used it when we traveled?
- What if we used it in case of emergency?
- Unlike our cell phone, we don't have to worry about our Bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill.

When you first look at all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle, it's hard to believe there's actually
a picture in there. But there's an important key to working a puzzle. You need to keep referring to the picture on the box. That's what helps you know what the finished product is supposed to look like.
Do you ever look at the jumbled pieces of your life, wondering how they could ever fit
together? God has given us a picture of what we'll look like when He's finished with us.
The book of Hebrews tells us that Jesus is "the radiance of the glory of God and the exact
imprint of his nature." Jesus is our picture of holiness. As we give all the pieces of our lives to
God, He'll help us grow into the image of His Son.
Are you growing in holiness? There's one way to know. Study what God's Word says
about Jesus, and then ask whether you're becoming more like Him.

When we find something we like at the store, one of the first things we do is look at the price tag. "Whoa! It looks really cute hanging right there on that rack!"
Wouldn't it be nice if temptation were the same way, if we understood the cost of sin right
up front? If the forbidden fruit had been rotten and crawling with worms, do you think Eve
would have taken any? But Genesis tells us, "When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree
was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she
took some and ate it." She acted on her immediate desires without looking at the price tag.
You'll be faced with a lot of decisions today. Would you ask God to give you discernment?
He can help you recognize the cost of sin, no matter how attractive it looks at the moment.

"The glum, sour faces of many Christians. ... They rather give the impression that, instead of coming from the Father's joyful banquet, they have just come from the Sheriff who has auctioned off their sins and now are sorry they can't get them back again." - Helmut Thielicke

"Men occasionally stumble on the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off
as if nothing had happened." Winston Churchill

"Age is an issue of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Mark Twain

During a road trip I stopped in a small town to grab a bite to eat. I walked into a local pizza place and the first thing I noticed was a sign on the wall advising: "Price. Quality. Service. Pick Any Two."

A woman marries a man expecting he will change, but he doesn't.
A man marries a woman expecting that she won't change and she does.

The evening news is where they begin with 'Good evening,' and then proceed to tell you why it isn't.

Q: What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole? A: A Hot Cross bunny.
Q: What do you call ten rabbits marching backwards? A: A receding hareline
Q: Why didn't the egg cross the road? A: Because he wasn't a chicken yet!
Q: What day does an egg hate the most? A: Fry-days.

BECAUSE
Because He emptied Himself of all but love, you can be filled.
Because His body was broken, your life can be whole.
Because His blood was shed, your sins can be forgiven.
Because He submitted to injustice, you can forgive.
Because He finished His Father's work, your life has worth.
Because He was forsaken, you will never be alone.
Because He was buried, you can be raised.
Because He lives, you don't have to be afraid.
Because He was raised, you can be strong.
Because He reached down to you, you don't have to work your way up to Him.
Because His promises are always true, you can have hope!
-- Author Unknown

Feb 28

2010-08-12T22:10:00.000-07:00

My wife clipped a job listing out of the paper for me. She said it wasn't much to start out... but a huge pay raise. It read, "Salary: 23k to start. 401k after 1 yr."

While watching a movie recently, I couldn't hear the dialogue over the chatter of the two women sitting in front of me. Unable to bear it any longer, I tapped one of them on the
shoulder. "Excuse me," I said, "I can't hear." "I should hope not," she replied sharply. "This is a private conversation."

- Some minds are like concrete thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
- You will never stand alone while standing on the Word of God. -- Kathryn Souza-Wine
- Forgiveness is almost a selfish act because of its immense benefits to the one who forgives. - Lawana Blackwell
- "We make ourselves rich by making our wants few." -Henry David Thor
- "I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean." - G. K. Chesterton
- "Opportunity may knock only once, but temptation leans on the doorbell."
- Love is not blind- it sees more, not less. But because it sees more, it is willing to see less. - Rabbi Julius Gordon
- Worriers spend a lot of time shoveling smoke. Claude McDonald
- If you believe what you like in the gospels, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself. --Augustine

"My ancestry goes all the way back to Alexander the Great," bragged one lady to another in their social club. "How far does your family go back?" She asked "I don't know," was the reply. "All of our records were lost in the flood."

In the arithmetic of love, one plus one equals everything, and two minus one equals nothing. ~ Mignon McLaughlin
The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us. -Ashley Montagu
"Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens reflect the kind of care they get." - H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
I have left a can of motivation somewhere and I cant find it I even looked under the sofa ... all I found under there though was a can of "procrastination" and a jar of "Ill do it later" which I think one is name brand and the other must be store brand because they are exactly the same thing!
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don't believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want and if they can't find them, make them. -- G.B. Shaw

JOY 9
If the Lord be with us, we have no cause of fear. His eye is upon us, His arm over us, His ear open to our prayer, His grace sufficient, His promise unchangeable. John Newton

If you want your dreams to come true, don't oversleep.
The smallest good deed is better than the grandest intention.
Of all the things you wear, your expression is the most important.
The best vitamin for making friends ... B1.
The 10 commandments are not multiple choice.
The happiness of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.
Minds are like parachutes ... they function only when open.
Ideas won't work unless YOU do.
One thing you can't recycle is wasted time.
One who lacks the courage to start has already finished.
The heaviest thing to carry is a grudge.
You don't learn safety rules by accident.
We lie the loudest when we lie to ourselves.
Jumping to conclusions can be bad exercise.
A turtle makes progress only when it sticks its head out.
One thing you can give and still keep ... is your word.
A friend walks in when everyone else walks out.
The pursuit of happiness is the chase of a lifetime!

Reality Check Well, Think About It! by Stan Mitchell
"Imagine for a moment," Jim Baird asks, "what theories alien sociologists would form about our culture if they were judging us simply by the television programming we have been sending them at the speed of light over the last thirty years"
"They would," he remarks, "know a lot about handguns and how to wreck cars." Thanks to laugh tracks they would have "elaborate" and "wildly inaccurate" theories about what we think is funny. And they would conclude that the greatest decision in human existence, the one that makes all the difference is "what mixture of caramel-colored, gas-laden sugar water to drink."
But our space aliens would not know one thing about Americans from watching television. They could not possibly know that nine out of ten of us believe in God, eight out of ten of us pray regularly, that seven out of ten Americans are church members, and that six out of ten Americans claim that religion is the dominant factor in our lives.
Our alien scholars would have hardly any information on religion at all. There might, once
in a while, be a program which depicts a religious person as either hypocritical or hopelessly out of touch with reality.
Religion on television has been sequestered. There is religion, and then there is the "real world," according to this view of life.
In reality, however, there is a God. His son acted decisively in history to solve humanity's most profound problem. His word provides guidance for the greatest reality of all.
He will judge the living and the dead. He will consign every soul, living and dead, to an eternal destiny.
The aliens wouldn't know that from watching television. The tragedy is, neither will many
Americans.
"Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned" (John 5:28,29).
Could someone please direct those aliens to a bookstore?

w "In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." -- Albert Schweitzer

“Our success is directly related to our clarity and honesty about who we are, who we’re not, where we want to go, and how we’re going to get there.” —Howard Behar

“Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances.” —Thomas Jefferson

“When you know clearly what you want, you’ll wake up every morning excited about life.” —Mark Victor Hansen

“No man can always be right. So the struggle is to do one’s best, to keep the brain and conscience clear, never to be swayed by unworthy motives or inconsequential reasons, but to strive to unearth the basic factors involved, then do one’s duty.” —Dwight D. Eisenhower
"Let go of your attachment to being right, and suddenly your mind is more open. You're able to benefit from the unique viewpoints of others, without being crippled by your own judgment. -- Ralph Marston

"To make mistakes is human; to stumble is common-place; to be able to laugh at yourself is maturity.-- William Arthur Ward

"Train up a child in the way he should go, but be sure to go that way yourself."

Remember...Just going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more
than standing in your garage makes you a car.
Every saint has a PAST...
Every sinner has a FUTURE!

"There are plenty of rules for attaining success, but none of them work unless you do!" -- Mark Twain

"God speaks in the silence of the heart. Listening is the beginning of prayer." -- Mother Teresa
"There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot, but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence transform a yellow spot into the sun." -- Pablo Picasso quite a time on the TV show last week—who would have thought that
A Quaker farmer was milking his cows, and near the end of the milking one of the cows lifted tail, swished him hard across the face, shifted legs and, with the free leg, kicked both the farmer and the milk pail (nearly full of milk) spilling it into the farmer's shoes.
"Oh, dear cow," said the Quaker, "thou knowest that my pacifism dost not allow me to beat thee, that I canst not even curse thee for these impertinent actions. Thou mayest believe that thou canst escape retribution for this pagan action. And, thou mayest even thinkest thee smarter than myself.
"But what thou knowest not is that I can sell thee to Ole, my Norwegian
Lutheran neighbor, who canst beat the living tar out of thee."

There is only one group of people who don't have problems and they're all dead. Problems are a sign of life. So the more problems you have, the more alive you are.
Norman Vincent Peale (1898 - 1993)

Thought for the week: "Make big decisions in the calm."-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Most Would Remarry Their Spouse
In a new CBS News poll, nine out of 10 (90%) married Americans said they would marry their spouse again, a percentage which has barely changed since 1995 (93%). Ninety-five percent of men said they would marry their wives again compared to 85 percent of women saying the same. When asked to pick what is most important in a successful relationship, about half picked "Respect" (49%), followed by "Trust" (37%), and a "Sense of humor" (10%). "Sex" was picked by two percent and "Money" by zero percent. [CBSNews.com]

When Bad Things Happen
"I am responsible. Although I may not be able to prevent the worst from happening, I am responsible for my attitude toward the inevitable misfortunes that darken life. Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have--life itself." Walter Anderson, Author of The Confidence Course: Seven Steps to Self-Fulfillment

HOW TO DRIVE IN PHOENIX:
1. You must first learn to pronounce the city name, it is: "FEE-NICKS".
2. The morning rush hour is from 5:00am to noon. The evening rush hour is from noon to 7:00pm. Friday's rush hour starts on Thursday morning.
3. The minimum acceptable speed on most freeways is 85 mph. On Loop 101, your speed is expected to match the highway number. Anything less is considered "Wussy".
4. Forget the traffic rules you learned elsewhere. Phoenix has its own version of traffic rules. For example, cars/trucks with the loudest muffler go first at a four-way stop; the trucks with the biggest tires go second. However, East Valley, SUV-driving, cell phone-talking moms ALWAYS have the right of way.
5. If you actually stop at a yellow light, you will be rear ended, cussed out, and possibly shot.
6. Never honk at anyone. Ever. Seriously. It's another offense that can get you shot.
7. Road construction is permanent and continuous in Phoenix. Detour barrels are moved around during the middle of the night to make the next day's driving a bit more exciting.
8. Watch carefully for road hazards such as drunks, skunks, dogs, barrels, cones, cows, horses, cats, mattresses, shredded tires, squirrels, rabbits, crows, vultures, javelinas, roadrunners, and the coyotes feeding on any of these items.
9. Maricopa Freeway, Papago Freeway and the "I-10" are the same road.
10. If someone actually has their turn signal on, wave them to the shoulder immediately to let them know it has been "accidentally activated."
11. If you are in the left lane and only driving 70 in a 55-65 mph zone, you are considered a road hazard and will be "flipped off" accordingly. If you return the flip, you'll be shot.
12. For summer driving, it is advisable to wear potholders on your hands.

"The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects the wind to change; the realist adjusts the sails." -- Unknown

"Long-range goals keep you from being frustrated by short-term failures." -- J.C. Penney

"Age wrinkles the body. Quitting wrinkles the soul." -- Douglas MacArthur

Feb 21

2010-08-12T22:08:00.000-07:00

Mother Theresa's prayer:
May today there be peace within. May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be. May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith. May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

"When God leads you to the edge of the cliff, trust Him fully and let go. Only one of two things will happen—either He'll catch you when you fall, or He'll teach you how to fly!" – Unknown

"Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road." – Dag Hammarskjold

"When it is the Spirit of God and not fear that unites us in community, no distance of time or place can separate us." – Henri J. M. Nouwen

"It's not your position in life; it's the disposition you have which will change your position." – Dr. David McKinley

"Always look at what you have left. Never look at what you have lost." – Robert Schuller

You cannot legislate the poor into prosperity by legislating the wealthy out of prosperity. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is the beginning of the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. Author Unknown

The Devil's Future "Resist the devil and he will flee from you."
A friend shared with me her way of handling the deceiver-tempter: "When Satan comes to remind me about my past, I remind him about his future."
One thing Satan does is continually accuse us before God. Knowing that he does this, we can remind him not only about his future in hell but also that Christ shed his blood on the cross and gave his life to pay for our sins and has washed them all away. So what's there to accuse us of if we have confessed our sins to Christ and asked for and accepted his forgiveness?
Furthermore, because Christ died for us and cleansed us from our sins, we can, in Jesus' name resist the devil and, as James said, he will flee from us. Satan hates the name of Jesus. Be sure to mention it when he comes to tempt you.
Prayer: "Dear God, thank you that you forgive all who confess their sins and ask for your forgiveness. Help me always to resist the devil in Jesus' name, knowing that he will flee from me and has no power over me. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

He who governed the world before I was born shall take care of it likewise when I am dead. My part is to improve the present moment. --John Wesley

13.8 cups: The average annual consumption of salt for American males. For women it's 9.7 cups.

"You are what you repeatedly do. Excellence is not an event--it is a habit."--Aristotle

"Learn to say no. It will be of more use to you than to be able to read Latin."

Dante's View
In Death Valley there is a place known as Dante's View. There, you can look down to the lowest spot in the United States, a depression in the earth 200 feet below sea level called Bad Water. But from that same spot, you can also look up to the highest peak in the United States, Mount Whitney, rising to a height of 14,500 feet. One way leads to the lowest and the other way to the highest. From that point, called Dante's View, any movement must be in one or the other direction.
There are many times in life when we stand where the ways part and where choices must be made. It is often easier to trip along downhill than to walk the steady, or maybe rocky, uphill path. But the path uphill leads to a cross -- an empty cross. And the one that walks beside us is the one who hung there and defeated it.

Raised In The 16th and Kicked Out In The 21st
The complaint is sometimes made about clergy or parochial school children that they don't live in the "real" world. Often there is the attempt to protect people from the "real" world -- the world of evil and temptation, gangs and death, alcoholics and addicts. I had a 20-something lady tell me, "My mother raised me in the sixteenth century and then kicked me out in the 21st -- and I wasn't ready for it." Jesus knows this "real" world of temptations, and undeserved suffering and death.

Lent: Spring Training For Christians
When I was a boy, I was told, "Baptists don't do Lent." No one knew why. I suspect that it was an anti-Catholic thing which I pray we are over. It was the old argument, "whatever they do, we don't!" - a curiously convoluted, twisted and unhealthy way to decide on religious practices.
Whatever the reason for "not doing Lent," I think it is a great loss for any Christian not to prepare for Good Friday and Easter. Every spring the baseball players prepare for the season with spring training; every spring ordinary people prepare for summer by doing "spring cleaning." So why shouldn't Christians prepare for the most important events in Jesus' ministry - what he did for us on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, what he did for us on Golgotha's cross and at the empty tomb?
If it helps you, think of Lent as a kind of Christian spring training and spring cleaning.

The well of Providence is deep. It's the buckets we bring to it that are small. --Mary Webb

“There is only one corner of the universe you can be certain of improving, and that’s your own self.” —Aldous Huxley

“When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” —Viktor Frankl

A Collapse of Concentration
We have all gone through times of testing - times which tried our patience and tested our faith. Christians are not immune from troubles. I played in nationally-rated chess tournaments for years. The one thing all tournament chess players had to guard against was making a mistake when your position was under attack. The pressure of defending a difficult position would often cause careless errors. I'll never forget a game I was playing against a much-higher ranked player than myself who was from Fresno. Even though the position was relatively even, I was applying a lot of pressure. Every time he parried one threat I seemed to find another way to continue the attack. Finally, he made a blunder and lost a knight and the game. Afterwards I was analyzing the game with some other Fresno chess players. Their attitude was: you only won because our player made a mistake. They didn't realize that fatal mistake was preceded by a series of pressure-creating moves that finally resulted in a collapse of concentration. All tournament chess players face that - they have to try to not emotionally respond to a tense situation on the chessboard and allow their game to fall apart.
This is why God allows testing to come our way. He wants us to learn how to not respond to the pressure, and learn how to go through the difficulty without being crushed emotionally.

Knowing Temptation
"A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is . . . A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later. That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it: and Christ, because He was the only man who never yielded to temptation, is also the only man who knows to the full what temptation means - the only complete realist." C.S. Lewis

You Got an "A" for Yesterday
Remember, life is a test. If you woke up alive this morning, then you got an "A" for yesterday. Unknown

The Power of Temptation
John Piper says that sin (lust for example) "gets its power by persuading me to believe that I will be more happy if I follow it. The power of all temptation is the prospect that it will make me happier." E. Lutzer,

The Lenten Waiting Place
Wilderness was the wild place, the waiting place, the place of preparation. It also connected then, as it does now, to very basic spirituality: a place to grapple with God, a place to learn dependence on nature and its provisions, a place of extremes or contrasts, of wild beasts and desert. It is the Lenten space par excellence. William Loader,
Four-year-old Jason was visiting his grandparents. Grandpa was in his study intently reading. Jason walked in carrying a peach, said something Grandpa didn't catch, and handed the peach to him. Thinking his wife had sent him a snack, Grandpa took it and ate it. Just as he swallowed the last bite, Jason, with lip quivering, said, "But, Pap, I didn't want you to eat it. I just wanted you to get the worm out!"

"If life were fair, Elvis would be alive and all the impersonators would be dead." - Johnny Carson
"The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what the man or woman is able to do that counts." -- Booker T. Washington, 1856-1915, Educator and Reformer
"Losers make promises they often break. Winners make commitments they always keep." -- Denis Waitley

Prevailing Sins -A recent survey of readers ranked areas of greatest spiritual challenge to them:
1. Materialism
2. Pride
3. Self-centeredness
4. Laziness
5. (Tie) Anger/Bitterness
5. (Tie) Sexual lust.
7. Envy
8. Gluttony
9. Lying
Survey noted temptations were more potent when they had neglected their time with God (81 percent) and when they were physically tired (57 percent). Resisting temptation was accomplished by prayer (84 percent), avoiding compromising situations (76 percent), Bible study (66 percent), and being accountable to someone (52 percent).
Q: How do you keep your husband from reading your e-mail?
A: Rename the mail folder to "instruction manuals"

Feb 14

2010-08-12T22:06:00.000-07:00

There is a dawn that follows every darkness,
hope that follows every despair,
a beginning that follows every ending.

Your Divine Valentine
- A Valentine may play a love song for you, but God sings you the sweetest love song in the universe. "The Lord your God... will rejoice over you with gladness, He will keep you quiet with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3:17
- A Valentine may give you flowers, but God sent you the most beautiful rose of all, Jesus. "I am the rose of Sharon, and the lily of the valleys." Song of Solomon 2:1
- A Valentine may take you out to dinner, but God has invited you to the most amazing feast ever given. "Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!" Rev. 19:9
- A Valentine may bring you chocolate, but God provides you with something even sweeter, His Word. "How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!" Psalm 119:103
- A Valentine may be far away, but God is always with you. "I am with you always." Matthew 28:20
- A Valentine may give you something, but God has given you everything. "God gives us richly all things to enjoy." 1 Timothy 6:17
- A Valentine may love you for a lifetime, but God loved you before you were born and will love you for all eternity! "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love... with loving-kindness I have drawn you." Jeremiah 31:3

“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.” —Helen Keller

“The three great essentials to achieving anything worthwhile are: first, hard work, second, stick-to-it-iveness, and third, common sense.” —Thomas A. Edison

“It takes less time to do things right than to explain why you did it wrong.” —Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Show me a man who cannot bother to do little things and I’ll show you a man who cannot be trusted to do big things.” —Lawrence Bell

HAPPINESS
Simply seek happiness, and you are not likely to find it. Seek to create and love without regard to your happiness, and you will likely be happy much of the time. M. Scott Peck

Bald spot? No, that's a solar panel for brain power.

TRUE LOVE
If you love something, set it free.
If it comes back, it was, and always will be yours.
If it never returns, it was never yours to begin with.

If it just sits in your living room,
messes up your stuff,
eats your food,
uses your telephone,
takes your money,
and never behaves as if you actually set it free in the first place,
you either married it or birthed it.

COLD ‘NUFF FOR YA?
60 above zero: Arizonians turn on the heat. People in Iowa plant gardens.
50 above zero: Californians shiver uncontrollably. People in Cedar Rapids sunbathe.
40 above zero: Italian & English cars won't start. People in Iowa drive with the windows down.
32 above zero: Distilled water freezes. The water in Des Moines gets thicker.
20 above zero: Floridians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves, wool hats. People in Iowa throw on a flannel shirt.
15 above zero: New York landlords finally turn up the heat. People in Iowa have the last cookout before it gets cold.
0 People in Miami all die. Iowans close the windows.
10 below zero: Californians fly away to Mexico .. People in Iowa get out their winter coats.
25 below zero: Hollywood disintegrates. The Girl Scouts in Iowa are selling cookies door to door. (True!)
40 below zero: Washington DC runs out of hot air. People in Iowa let the dogs sleep indoors.
100 below zero: Santa Claus abandons the North Pole. Iowa get upset because they can't start the Mini-Van.
460 below zero: ALL atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin scale.) People in Iowa start saying..."Cold 'nuff fer ya?"
500 below zero: Hell freezes over. Iowa public schools will open 2 hours late.

When you need to use the 411 information option, simply dial 1 (800) FREE 411, or 1 (800) 373-3411 without incurring any charge at all. Or log on www.free411.com

"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." 1John 4:7 (ESV)
I Love You Too
Some people feel that responding to an "I love you" with "I love you too" is a meaningless gesture because it was prompted by the other person. Actually, the social function that is served is mirroring. It is a bonding exercise. When you smile at someone and they smile back, you feel connected. When someone grimaces and you do too, you feel connected. You laugh; they laugh. Mirroring connects us.
Of course it is not good to be insincere. Nor is it good to manipulate others by what we say to them. But to not reciprocate feels awkward and gives the person who expressed their love a feeling of disconnect. When someone reaches out and the other does not reach back, uncertainty ensues. In mirroring, the words may not need to be the same as long as the affect matches.
A similar dynamic occurs when someone reaches out with gratitude but the other person minimizes. "Oh, it was nothing" is a disconnect, while "Thank you for saying that" connects.
Mirroring also occurs in body language as people dynamically respond to each other. When in a position to observe others' behavior, you can see how mirroring amplifies positive connections while a lack of mirroring disconnects people from each other.

Did you heard about the nine-year-old whose sister was just starting school. He gave her some advice. "Don't ever learn to spell 'Cat,'" he warned. "Once you do that, they just keep on giving you harder words."

In the PEANUTS cartoon, the team "statistician" brings Charlie Brown, the manager, his report. "I've compiled the statistics on our baseball team for last season," Linus says. "In 12 games we ALMOST scored a run and in 9 games the other team ALMOST didn't score before the first out. In right field, Lucy ALMOST caught 3 balls and once ALMOST made the right play."
"We led the league," he concludes, "in 'almosts,' Charlie Brown."

Whenever I find myself in the cellar of affliction, I always look about for the wine.--Samuel Rutherford

THE SEVEN MODERN SINS:
Politics...without Principles
Pleasures.. without Conscience
Wealth...without Work
Knowledge...without Character
Industry.. without Morality
Science ....... without Humanity
Worship.....without Sacrifice

Feb 7

2010-08-12T22:02:00.000-07:00

The acid test of our faith in the promises of God is never found in the easy-going, comfortable ways of life, but in the great emergencies, the times of storm and of stress, the days of adversity, when all human aid fails. --Ethel Bell

A couple was celebrating their golden wedding anniversary. Their domestic tranquility had long been the talk of the town. A local newspaper reporter was inquiring as to the secret of their long and happy marriage.
"Well, it dates back to our honeymoon," explained the man. "We visited the Grand Canyon and took a trip down to the bottom on the canyon by pack mule. We hadn't gone too far when my wife's mule stumbled. My wife quietly said, 'That's once.' We proceeded a little further and the mule stumbled again. Once more my wife quietly said, 'That's twice.' We hadn't gone a half-mile when the mule stumbled the third time. My wife quietly removed a revolver from her pocket and shot the mule dead.
I started to protest over her treatment of the mule when she looked at me and quietly said 'That's once.'

Who receives the most Valentine cards? It's not sweethearts. According to Aspire, of the 1 billion cards sent or given one recent Valentine's Day, teachers got the most. Children got the second highest percentage, followed by wives and mothers. - Source: Current Thoughts & Trends (February 2010)

"There are those who believe that a new modernity demands new morality. What they fail to consider is the harsh reality that there is no such thing as a new morality. There is only one morality. All else is immorality. There is only true Christian ethics over against which stands the whole of paganism. If we are to fulfill our great destiny as a people, then we must return to the old morality, the sole morality." - Theodore Roosevelt

Americans consumed 25.7 pounds of candy per capita in 2005. - U.S. Census Bureau

Everything I need to know, I learned from Noah's Ark:
One: Don't miss the boat.
Two: Remember that we are all in the same boat.
Three: Plan ahead. It wasn't raining when Noah built the Ark.
Four: Stay fit. When you're 600 years old, someone may ask you to do something really big.
Five: Don't listen to critics; just get on with the job that needs to be done.
Six: Build your future on high ground.
Seven: For safety's sake, travel in pairs.
Eight: Speed isn't always an advantage. The snails were on board with the cheetahs.
Nine: When you're stressed, float a while.
Ten: Remember, the Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
Eleven: No matter the storm, when you are with God, there's always a rainbow waiting.

TEN THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
Journalist Maria Shriver, wife of Arnold Schwartzeneger, in her book, tells about these ten things she wishes she would have known earlier:
1. First and foremost: pinpoint your passion.
2. No job is beneath you.
3. Who you work for and with is as important as what you do.
4. Your behavior has consequences.
5. Be willing to fail.
6. Superwoman is dead ... and Superman may not be alive
7. Children do change your career (not to mention your entire life).
8. Marriage is a ... lot of hard work.
9. Don't expect anyone else to support you financially.
10. Laugh a lot.

All I Need To Know About Life I Learned From Trees
* It's important to have roots.
* In today's complex world, it pays to branch out.
* Don't pine away over old flames.
* If you really believe in something, don't be afraid to go out on a limb.
* Be flexible so you don't break when a harsh wind blows.
* Sometimes you have to shed your old bark in order to grow.
* If you want to maintain accurate records, keep a log.
* To be politically correct, don't wear firs.
* Grow where you're planted. * It's perfectly okay to be a late bloomer.
* Avoid people who would like to cut you down.
* Get all spruced up when you have a hot date.
* If the party gets boring, just leaf.
* You can't hide your true colors as you approach the autumn of your life.

Difficulties are things that show what men are. Epictetus (c. 55-135) Philosopher

We went to breakfast at a restaurant where the "seniors' special" was two eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast for $1.99.
"Sounds good," my wife said. " But I don't want the eggs."
Then I'll have to charge you two dollars and forty-nine cents because you're ordering a la carte," the waitress warned her.
"You mean I'd have to pay for not taking the eggs?" My wife asked incredulously.
"YES!!"
"I'll take the special."
"How do you want your eggs?"
"Raw and in the shell," my wife replied. She took the two eggs home.

THE CHURCH vs. AN AUDIENCE
Charles Jefferson once described the difference between an audience and a church. He said, “An audience is a crowd. A church is a family.
An audience is a gathering. A church is a fellowship.
An audience is a collection. A church is an organism.
An audience is a heap of stones. A church is a temple.” He went on to say, “Preachers are not to attract an audience, but to build His church.”

What men and women want most in the hour of trouble is not an answer to a problem but a power to carry them through. And, indeed, even if the best and most completely satisfying solution of the mystery of suffering were available, that would not alter the fact that the actual suffering itself—the grim reality in experience—would still be there to be endured. So we begin to see that there is a deeper question. The ultimate demand is not “Why has this happened to me?” but “How, seeing it has happened, am I to face it?” And when you see that, suddenly the New Testament comes right in. The New Testament is not much concerned about Why? But it is desperately and magnificently concerned about How? It does not offer you a theory and an explanation—it offers you a power and a victory. --James S. Stewart

A COUPLE I KNOW were discussing their wallpaper, which had just been hung. Doug was annoyed at Debby's indifference to what he felt was a poor job. "The problem is that I'm a perfectionist and you're not," he finally said to her. "Exactly!" she replied. "That's why you married me and I married you!"

The way to gain a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear. – Socrates
 Grammar has gots to be one of the most importantest things ever?
 I am becoming increasingly worried that there isn't enough anxiety in my life.
 I have this nagging fear that everyone is out to make me paranoid.
 Life is full of uncertainties...or I could be wrong about that?
 Not only am I redundant and superfluous, but I also tend to use more words than necessary.
 Always remember you're unique... just like everyone else. 

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY February 7, 2010
ORDER OF WORSHIP
Prior to the Entrance Hymn the Pastor and the Director of Music will toss a coin.
The winner may elect to be the preacher or music director; the loser may elect to defend the pulpit or choir stand.

THE ENTRANCE HYMN: "A Multitude Comes From The East and West"

THE SETTING OF THE RULES:
a) Any acolyte found to be in illegal motion will be assessed a 5 yard
penalty or the loss of a candle;
b) Offering plates may be lateraled; the peace may be passed;
c) The liturgist may fake a hand off to the Lay Reader and read the
Lessons himself, provided that changes in audible signals are clearly given;
d) A Message in excess of 20 minutes will be regarded as "Delay of the Service" and the preacher may lose possession of the pulpit;
e) Gate receipts may be gathered during the half-time show;
f) Ushers may blitz either the Lay Reader or preacher only during the
announcements;
g) Unconfirmed communicants (ineligible receivers) may be placed on wafers;
h) The liturgist may be awarded 3 points for correctly announcing the Super Bowl alternative title: Fifth Sunday after the Epiphany

THE LESSONS:
Isaiah 6:1-8 God raises up a great manager
1 Cor 14:12-20 The proper gifts are essential for playing
Mark 1:21-28 Jesus the Coach calls the first string
HYMN OF THE DAY: "Pass It On"

THE MESSAGE: "One Yard to Go"

HALFTIME ACTIVITIES: The Offering

THE 2 MINUTE WARNING (announcements)

THE BENEDICTION AND CLOSING CHEERS

If the Good Lord wanted more of us to see the sunrise,
He would have scheduled it later in the day!

Edward Gibbon (“Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”) lists the reasons for the decline and fall of the Roman system:
1. Family life disintegrated.
2. The world of entertainment became corrupt.
3. Moral absolutes were discarded.
4. The cost of the empire’s military was paralyzing.
5. The empire’s economy collapsed.
Indeed, food for thought in relation to today’s world!

January 31

2010-01-31T14:53:00.000-08:00

CONTENTMENT – "You can't have everything...where would you put it?" -- Stephen Wright

"That man is richest whose pleasures are the cheapest." -- Henry David Thoreau

"I am a big believer in the 'mirror test.' All that matters is if you can look in the mirror and honestly tell the person you see there, that you've done your best." -- John McKay

"When we have done our best, we should wait the result in peace." -- J. Lubbock

• "God Is" Banner in Subways
Last Friday, Times Square Church, located in the heart of New York City, launched an ad campaign on 1,000 subway cars and 50 platforms in Manhattan stations. The ads boldly feature the words "God is" in the center of a poster surrounded by attributes of God in various fonts and colors, such as: With you ... Willing to help ... Able to protect ... A father ... A husband to the widow ... Your friend, etc. Senior Pastor Carter Conlon explained, "We are praying that people who don't know God, and would like to know Him, would be moved by these ads to visit Times Square Church or any Bible-believing church in New York City and find God through the forgiveness freely offered through His Son, Jesus Christ. And to those who once knew God and need to get back to God, we want to say simply this: His arms are open wide, always ready to welcome you home." [GospelHerald.net]

In Dennis Waitley's 'Empires of the Mind' Waitley reports that although there are approximately 450,000 words in the English language, about 80% of our conversations use only about 400 words. The most common words in the English language are. . .
"I," "Me," "My," and "Mine."
What does that say about us?

JOY 11
Illustrations to Glorify God ... and Unify God’s People, the Church!
When we discern that people are not going on spiritually and allow the discernment to turn to criticism, we block our way to God. God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that we may intercede. -- Oswald Chambers

Trouble always comes whenever we begin to take credit for any of the gifts of the Spirit, be they gifts of prayer, tongues, prophecy, art, science. -- Madeleine L'Engle

REMINDER ...
The Life Application Bible™ has this great explanation: “...no matter what gift(s) a person has, each gift is given by the Holy Spirit...the Holy Spirit decides which gifts each one of us should have...we are responsible to use and sharpen our gifts, but we can take NO CREDIT for what God has freely given us...”

* The fellowship of the body is always two-way; receiving and giving. Wanting only to receive is not fellowship. We may not be preachers, but when we come to worship we nevertheless bring what we have. There must be help of the pulpit from the pew. Sitting and looking on will not do. We must give others to drink, not necessarily by speaking, but maybe by quiet prayer. ... Every member of the Body has a ministry, and every member is called to function in the place appointed by the Lord. It makes no difference who does the work if the glory is His. -- Watchman Nee,

"Don't say, 'If I could, I would.' Say, 'If I can, I will.'" -- Jim Rohn

"Choice determines direction...Decision determines destiny." -- Doug Firebaugh

There's the one about the fellow who liked to "let the spirit move him" in selecting passages to study. He would randomly open his Bible and let his finger land on a verse and that would be the one he would study.
One day his practice landed him on Mat 27:5 "and he went and hanged himself". Thinking this was a bit gruesome, he decided to use his search method to find a more appropriate passage to study. This time his finger landed on Luke 10:37 "Go and do likewise." Being very upset he decided to make one last effort to find a better passage to ponder. This time he selected John 13:27 "Do quickly what you are going to do."

I am convinced more than ever, that if one wants to practice “unconditional love” while here on earth, they should have a dog! Really! First of all, spell the word backwards–ha! Then ask yourself this, who or what in my life–outside of God–loves me when I am completely unlovable? Yep–your dog will! In fact, study after study has shown that even a dog that is beaten by its master will still love them (go figure!). When dogs are brought into nursing homes, care centers, pediatric and terminally ill hospital wards, hospice centers, there is a remarkable change in people! Here’s the rub: we were created higher than a dog–and it’s time to live that way in how we share our love with others–and God!

*Why LOVE is the most powerful spiritual gift:
More people have been brought into the church by the kindness of real Christian love than by all the theological arguments in the world, and more people have been driven from the church by the hardness and ugliness of so-called Christianity than by all the doubts in the world. --William Barclay

Do Sermons Really Have Impact? "Nearly 100 percent of churchgoers look forward to sermons, but only 17 percent think preaching changes the way they live,"
The research also discovered that:
* Many Anglicans wanted the sermon to last less than 10 minutes, but up to 20 minutes was fine if there was no "waffle."
* Baptists were happy to sit through a 75-minute sermon.
* Catholics wanted the sermon to be completed within 10 minutes.
* Sermons were seen as being very good at teaching about God, the Bible and "being comforting," but needed to do more to "motivate and challenge" people to look at the world differently.
* Sermons seem to encourage Christian reflection, but not Christian action.
* Nearly 17 percent felt sermons did actually change the way they lived.

You Can BE Letter of Love in This World! 1 Corinthians 1:1-13 for the believer: A Christian is a loving letter. Love is basic to being Christian. If we love not, we are not. This is not sentimentality or effusive feelings, but good old basic love that reaches out to heal the hurt of the world. Love's simplicity is its attraction; its transforming power is its glory. Love is practical, yet transcendent; earthly, yet heavenly. Love is the essence of the divine Author and permeates the whole of life.

January 24

2010-01-31T14:51:00.000-08:00

St. Peter and Satan were having an argument one day about football. This goes on and on with both arguing about who would field the best team.
Satan proposed a game to be played on neutral grounds between a select team from the heavenly host and his own hand-picked boys.
"Very well," said the gatekeeper of Heaven.
"But you realize, I hope, that we've got all the good players and the best coaches."
"I know, and that's all right," Satan answered unperturbed, "we've got all the officials!"

“Look at this mess!” roared an angry customer at a local cafe, pointing to his squashed doughnut. “It’s just as you ordered it, sir,” the waitress replied meekly. "You told me to bring you coffee and a doughnut and step on it.”

TIME TO GO
A visiting minister was very long-winded. Worse, every time he would make a good point during his sermon and a member of the congregation responded with "Amen" or "That's right, preacher" he would get wound up even more and launch into another lengthy discourse.
Finally, the host pastor started responding to every few sentences with "Amen, Pharaoh!" The guest minister wasn't sure what that meant, but after several more "Amen, Pharaohs" he finally concluded his very lengthy sermon.
After the service concluded and the congregation had left, the visiting minister turned to his host and asked, "What exactly did you mean when you said 'Amen, Pharaoh'?"
His host replied, "I was telling you to let my people go!"

In the midst of a generation screaming for answers, Christians are stuttering. --Howard Hendricks

The most pleasant and useful persons are those who leave some of the problems of the universe for God to worry about.

It's a good thing to have all the props pulled out from under us occasionally. It gives us some sense of what is rock under our feet, and what is sand. --Madeleine L'Engle

I used to eat a lot of natural foods until I learned that most people die of natural causes.

Act As If You Do Love
In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less." C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand. Thomas Aquinas

JOY 10
Resurrecting the Message of Christ
Ralph Waldo Emerson made the observation: "An institution is the lengthened shadow of one man." Take that thought -- the institutional church is the lengthened shadow of one Man -- Jesus Christ. We Christians owe it to ourselves and to the world to resurrect this message of Christ from the debris of history.

The Lake Wobegone Effect
A scandal is brewing in the hallowed halls of Academe. It has to do with test scores given to our young people. A West Virginia doctor noticed sometime back that all 50 states claim that their students score above average on standardized test scores. That, of course, is impossible -- for everyone to be above average. Someone has even given this scandal a thoughtful name -- the Lake Wobegon effect. Lake Wobegon is author Garrison Keillor's mythical town where "All the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average."
Obviously, by definition it is impossible for everyone to be "above average." Average is what most people are. Nobody, though, wants to admit it.
In a General Electric survey some years ago, the average person surveyed placed themselves in the 77th percentile. That is, their view was that their performance on the job exceeded that of 76% of their associates. In fact, only 2% of the respondents placed themselves as below average. Everybody is in the top half of the class. Everyone is a star.
What has Jesus got to do with the Lake Wobegon effect? Just this. How can I look across this congregation--we who have so much, who are so well-fed, so well-clothed, so surrounded by the good things of life--how can I look across this congregation and tell you that Jesus came to save the poor, the captives, the blind and the oppressed? That's not us! We are winners. We are stars. We're all above average. This is one text we can skip over. It's for someone else.
Still, it's there. Maybe we ought to listen. Arthur G. Ferry, Jesus and the Lake Wobegone Effect

Prayer: Our Father, each day is a little life, each night a tiny death; help us to live with faith and hope and love. Lift our duty above drudgery; let not our strength fail, or the vision fade, in the heat and burden of the day. O God, make us patient and pitiful one with another in the fret and jar of life, remembering that each fights a hard fight and walks a lonely way. Forgive us, Lord, if we hurt our fellow souls; teach us a gentler tone, a sweeter charity of words, and a more healing touch. Sustain us, O God, when we must face sorrow; give us courage for the day and hope for the morrow. Day unto day may we lay hold of thy hand and look up into thy face, whatever befall, until our work is finished and the day is done. Amen. Francis of Assisi, 1181-1226

"It really doesn't matter if the person who hurt you deserves to be forgiven. Forgiveness is a gift you give yourself. You have things to do and you want to move on." -- Author Unknown

"You miss 100 percent of the shots you never take" – Wayne Gretzky

"Every generation of Americans [and others] needs to know that freedom exists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought." -- Pope John Paul II

"We can stand affliction better than we can prosperity, for in prosperity we forget God." --Dwight L. Moody

"If it is desirable that our children be kind, responsible, pleasant and honest, then those qualities must be taught--not hoped for." -- James Dobson

"When your only tool is a hammer, you see every problem as a nail." -- A. Maslow

All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.

In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird. Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

How is it one careless match can start a forest fire, but it takes a whole box to start a campfire?

If Moses, after spending 40 days and nights with the Almighty, had come down from Mount Sinai today bearing two tablets with the Ten Commandments, he would have been hard pressed to find a publisher.

It took John D. Rockefeller 16 years to become a billionaire. Bill Gates did it in 10. Mike Dell in five. And Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page became multibillionaires in their late 20s.
Goldman Sachs' golden touch delivered $16.5 billion in year-end bonuses, up 40 percent in a year, or $623,418 for every employee. But that wasn't the way it was divvied among the 26,467-strong work force. Some star traders made $100 million as their reward for boosting Goldman's stock 61 percent in 2006.
Winston Churchill once said socialism is the equal sharing of miseries whereas capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings.
A worker earns in a year roughly what the CEO on the top floor takes home each day.

Life is made up of sobs, sniffles and smiles, with sniffles predominating. -- O. Henry

Healthy Relationships--Healthy Life
Everybody's Normal Until You Get to Know Them by John Ortberg. I've included this quote from the book: "One of the most thorough research projects on relationships is called the Alameda County Study. Headed by a Harvard social scientist, it tracked the lives of 7,000 people over nine years. Researchers found that the most isolated people were three times more likely to die than those with strong relational connections.
"People who had bad health habits (such as smoking, poor eating habits, obesity, or alcohol use) but strong social ties lived significantly longer than people who had great health habits but were isolated. In other words, it is better to eat Twinkies with good friends than to eat broccoli alone. Harvard researcher Robert Putnam notes that if you belong to no groups
but decide to join one, "you cut your risk of dying over the next year in half."
"For another study, as reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, 276 volunteers were infected with a virus that produces the common cold. The study found that people with strong emotional connections did four times better fighting off illness than those who were more isolated. These people were less susceptible to colds, had less virus, and
produced significantly less mucous than relationally isolated subjects." Talmadge Hobbs

Olympian Hits Wrong Target Matt Emmons had the gold medal in sight. He was one shot away from claiming victory in the 2004 Olympics 50-metre, three-position rifle event. He didn't even need a bull's-eye to win. His final shot merely needed to be on target.
Normally, the shot he made would have received a score of 8.1, more than enough for a gold medal. But in what was described as "an extremely rare mistake in elite competition," Emmons fired at the wrong target. Standing in lane two, he fired at the target in lane three. His score for a good shot at the wrong target? Zero. Instead of a medal, Emmons ended up in eighth place. It doesn't matter how accurate you are if you are aiming at the wrong goal.

The bad news is time flies. The good news is you're the pilot. Michael Altshuler

January 17

2010-01-31T14:49:00.000-08:00

"Look for the good in every person and every situation. You'll almost always find it." -- Brian Tracy

"Don't join an easy crowd; you won't grow. Go where the expectations and the demands to perform are high." -- Jim Rohn

If you kick a stone in anger, you'll hurt your own foot.
-- Korean Proverb

Temper is one thing you can't get rid of by losing it.

A THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Several years ago a preacher moved to Houston, Texas. Some weeks after he arrived, he had occasion to ride the bus from his home to the downtown area. When he sat down, he discovered that the driver had accidentally given him a quarter too much change.
As he considered what to do, he thought to himself, you better give the quarter back. It would be wrong to keep it. Then he thought, "Oh", forget it, it's only a quarter. Who would worry about this little amount? Anyway the bus company already gets too much fare; they will never miss it. Accept it as a gift from God and keep quiet."
When his stop came, he paused momentarily at the door, then he handed the quarter to the driver and said, "Here, you gave me too much change".
The driver with a smile, replied, "Aren't you the new preacher in town? I have been thinking lately about going to worship somewhere. I just wanted to see what you would do, if I gave you too much change."
When my friend stepped off the bus, he literally grabbed the nearest light pole, and held on, and said, "O God", I almost sold your Son for a quarter".
Our lives are the only Bible some people will ever read. (author unknown)

“If your Bible is in real good, shape, you’re probably not!”

I want to give you a quote from Martin Luther that powerfully substantiate St. Peter’s exhortation in Acts 4:12: “There is salvation in no one else! Under all heaven there is no other name for men to call upon to save them.''
“It is certain that whoever tries to go around Christ won’t meet the true God. God is completely in Christ and places Himself in Christ for us. No one will be able to succeed in dealing with God apart from Christ. No one will find God on the basis of human thoughts and devotion. Whoever wants to take the right path with his faith and not lose the way should begin where God has placed the path and where God wants to be found. Otherwise, everything he does and believes is useless.”

"What others do or say is their stuff; how we react, or not, is our stuff." – Unknown

"True happiness in life isn't having what you want, but wanting what you have." – Unknown

"Love is like a rose. You have to see past the thorns to appreciate its beauty." – Unknown

When the Statue of Liberty was remodeled, it was discovered that the entire inside support system had to be replaced. The outside copper skin of the statue was okay; it only had to be cleaned. Rust and corrosion had ruined the inner iron supports. If repairs had not been made, the statue in 20 years would have fallen over. The iron supports were replaced with stainless steel. Now it can withstand 125 mph winds. A nation without inner supports of moral integrity is doomed to lose her liberty.

"What others do or say is their stuff; how we react, or not, is our stuff." – Unknown

"True happiness in life isn't having what you want, but wanting what you have." – Unknown

"Love is like a rose. You have to see past the thorns to appreciate its beauty." – Unknown

"The amount you laugh in your relationships with others is the true measure of the health of your personality." – Brian Tracy

"Gentlemen, why don't you laugh? With the fearful strain that is upon me night and day, if I did not laugh, I should die." – Abraham Lincoln

"Beware what you set your heart upon. For it shall surely be yours." – Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire which transcends everything." -- Napoleon Hill

"The only real limitation on your abilities is the level of your desires. If you want it badly enough, there are no limits on what you can achieve." -- Brian Tracy

"The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination." -- Tommy Lasorda

Five out of every four Americans have trouble with fractions!

A Luther Moment ...
God's wonderful works which happen daily are lightly esteemed, not because they are of no import but because they happen so constantly and without interruption. Man is used to the miracle that God rules the world and upholds all creation, and because things daily run their appointed course, it seems insignificant, and no man thinks it worth his while to meditate upon it and to regard it as God's wonderful work, and yet it is a greater wonder than that Christ fed five thousand men with five loaves and made wine from water. -- Martin Luther in Day by Day We Magnify Thee

"The very first law in advertising is to avoid the concrete promise and cultivate the delightfully vague." -- Bill Cosby, US comedian, actor, author

Habits The American educator, Horace Mann, described the predicament of habits saying: “Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it.” Mr. Mann, you are only half right. Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, but it can be broken? There is One who will help you break it, if you desire it. Habits are often practiced without guilt, justified through cleverly devised mental schemes. We have to be continuously converted all the days of our lives, continually to turn to God as children. Life is a continuous conversion. In every setting in which we are put we have to “put on the new person.” There are whole areas of our lives which have not yet been brought into subjection, and it can only be done by this continuous conversion.

TODAY: Mad Dash
"This is the age Of the half-read page.
And the quick hash And the mad dash.
The bright night With the nerves tight.
The plane hop With the brief stop.
The lamp tan In a short span.
The Big Shot In a good spot.
And the brain strain The heart pain.
And the cat naps Till the spring snaps --
And the fun's done!"
Sound familiar? But wait -- this poem was
actually published in The Saturday Evening Post
in 1949, under the title, "Time of the Mad Atom."
Seems that people were as rushed then as they are now!

January 10

2010-01-31T14:47:00.000-08:00

Wash Off The Stuff of The Day
One of the most successful and personable people on television is Oprah Winfrey. Movies, book clubs, she does it all. Huge business operations. While all the other talk shows on television are tearing people apart and putting all their illnesses out for public humiliation, Oprah is helping put people and families back together again. . . In a Newsweek magazine interview the interviewer asked her, "How do you separate yourself from work?" Answer, "I take a hot bath. . . My bath is my sanctuary. (Listen to this) It's the place where I can wash off all the stuff of the day" ((Jan 8, 2001, p. 45).
Baptism is a huge symbol -- it's the water of creation. . . .we are born anew. . . . life in the Spirit . . . all the "stuff" of the day is washed off. All of that is true. But at it's basic level, baptism is the death of the old self. Before anything new can be born, the old has to pass away.

MAKE ME HAPPY, LORD, BUT...
I think that most Christians would be better pleased if the Lord did not inquire into their personal affairs too closely. They want Him to save them, to keep them happy, and to take them off to heaven at last, but not to be too inquisitive about their conduct or services.
--A. W. Tozer

GOD IS HIGHLY CONFIDENT OF HIS OWN PLANS
He'll work in ways you may not recognize or understand. And He is big enough to do the things you have labeled impossible. He has enough power. He has enough time. He is bigger than your problem. Believe in Him more than in what you may see. Trust in Him more than what you may feel. You can question. He can handle your questions. God is highly confident of His own plans. He can do everything but fail. --Kathy Troccoli

The American educator, Horace Mann, described the predicament of habits saying: "Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, and at last we cannot break it." Mr. Mann, you are only half right. Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it every day, but it can be broken? There is One who will help you break it, if you desire it. Habits are often practiced without guilt, justified through cleverly devised mental schemes. We have to be continuously converted all the days of our lives, continually to turn to God as children. Life is a continuous conversion. In every setting in which we are put we have to "put on the new person." There are whole areas of our lives which have not yet been brought into subjection, and it can only be done by this continuous conversion.

A young preacher had announced to his congregation that he would be leaving the church for another call. As he was standing at the door greeting people one of the elderly saints approached him, her eyes were filled with tears. She sobbed, "Oh pastor, I'm so sorry you've decided to leave. Things will never be the same again." The young man was flattered, but was equal to the situation and took her hands in his and most benevolently replied, "Bless you, dear lady, but I am sure that God will send you a new pastor even better than I." She choked back a sob and was heard to say, "That's what they all say, but they keep getting worse and worse."

The basic goal-reaching principle is to under-stand that you go as far as you can see, and when you get there you will always be able to see farther. Zig Ziglar

Even Americans who are lucky enough to have work in this economy are becoming more unhappy with their jobs, according to a new survey that found only 45 percent of Americans are satisfied with their work.
That was the lowest level ever recorded by the Conference Board research group in more than 22 years of studying the issue. In 2008, 49 percent of those surveyed reported satisfaction with their jobs.
The drop in workers' happiness can be partly blamed on the worst recession since the 1930s, which made it difficult for some people to find challenging and suitable jobs. But worker dissatisfaction has been on the rise for more than two decades.
"It says something troubling about work in America. It is not about the business cycle or one grumpy generation," says Linda Barrington, managing director of human capital at the Conference Board, who helped write the report, which was released Tuesday.
Workers have grown steadily more unhappy for a variety of reasons:
- Fewer workers consider their jobs to be interesting.
- Incomes have not kept up with inflation.
- The soaring cost of health insurance has eaten into workers' take-home pay.

• Six in Ten Adults Are Sure There Is a God
A new Harris Poll® that was released last month shows that only 59 percent of Americans are "absolutely certain that there is a God." Another 15 percent said they were "somewhat certain that there is a God." The research, which was based on 2,303 adults surveyed online between November 2 and 11, 2009, also revealed that 13 percent of Americans are either certain or somewhat certain that there is no God, and 13 percent were not sure whether or not God exists.

• Americans Looking Forward to Next Decade
Half of adults responding to a survey conducted last month by The Pew Research Center® said they had a generally negative opinion about the decade ending December 31, 2009. Only 27 percent had a generally positive opinion about the last 10 years. In contrast, 57 percent felt positive about the 1990s, and 59 percent feel positive about the coming decade. The research also revealed that a large majority of Americans see technological advances, such as cell phones, e-mail and the Internet, as positive. But the increase in Internet blogs, and reality TV shows were seen as negative changes in the past decade.

Choosing a Life that Matters
Some day the things we have collected, our wealth, our fame, our power
Will not matter.
Some day what we owe or what we are owed
Will not matter.
Some day our wins, our losses, and our to-do lists
Will not matter.
Our grudges and our resentments our frustrations and our jealousies
Will not matter.
Whether we are beautiful or brilliant, our gender and our skin color
Will not matter.
So what will matter?
What will matter
Is not what we have, but what we gave.
What will matter
Is not what we bought, but what we built.
What will matter
Is not what we learned, but what we taught.
What will matter
is not our competence, but our character.
What will matter
iIs not our success, but the success of those we helped.
What will matter
Is our integrity and our compassion, that encouraged and enabled others
To have integrity and to be compassionate.
Living a life that matters doesn't happen by accident.
It's not a matter of circumstance.
It's a matter of choice.
May we choose - each day - to live a Life that Matters

"If religious books are not widely circulated among the masses in this country and the people do not become religious, I do not know what is to become of us as a nation. And the thought is one to cause solemn reflection on the part of every patriot and Christian. If truth be not diffused, error will be; if God and his word are not known and received, the devil and his works will gain the ascendancy; if the evangelical volume does not reach every hamlet, the pages of a corrupt and licentious literature will; if the power of the gospel is not felt throughout the length and breadth of the land, anarchy and misrule, degradation and misery, corruption and darkness, will reign without mitigation or end." ...Daniel Webster

GRACE
Grace: a gift that costs everything for the giver and nothing for the recipient. --Philip Yancey

Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.

The King of Hearts is the only king WITHOUT A MOUSTACHE

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one (1) olive from each salad served in first-class.

Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. (Since Venus is normally associated with women, what does this tell you!)

"The empire of Caesar is gone; the legions of Rome are smoldering in the dust; the avalanches that Napoleon hurled upon Europe have melted away; the prince of the Pharaohs is fallen; the pyramids they raised to be their tombs are sinking every day in the desert sands; Tyre is a rock for bleaching fisherman's nets; Sidon has scarcely left a wreck behind; but the Word of God still survives. All things that threatened to extinguish it have only aided it; and it proves every day how transient is the noblest monument that men can build, how enduring is the least word that God has spoken." - Albert Baird Cummins

WHEN GOD WANTS WORK DONE
God never goes to the lazy or the idle when He needs men for His service. When God wants a worker He calls a worker. When He has work to be done, He goes to those already at work. When God wants a good servant, He calls a busy man. Scripture and history attest this truth.
Moses was busy with his flocks at Horeb.
Gideon was busy threshing wheat by the wine press.
Saul was busy searching for his father's beasts.
Elisha was busy plowing with twelve yoke of oxen.
David was busy caring for his father's sheep.
Nehemiah was busy serving the king.
Amos was busy following the flock.
Peter and Andrew were busy casting a net into the sea.
James and John were busy mending their nets.
Matthew was busy collecting customs.
William Carey was busy mending and making shoes.
Christian-does this tell you something about thinking we are too busy to do God's work?
--Author Unknown

HOLD ON TO HIS HAND
We are only finite human beings. We can only see the present and the past. The future is a little frightening to us. So we need to hold onto God's hand and trust Him to calm our fears. And at those times when we're stubborn and resisting and He shakes us by the shoulders to get our attention, we're reminded that we don't call the shots. God has a plan for us, mysterious though it may seem, and we want to be in the center of it. All the risks notwithstanding, the center of God's will is still the safest place on earth to be. Charles Swindoll

I get my large circumference from too much pi.

There's a sign above the scale in my doctor's office that says "Pretend it's your IQ."
"I find it fascinating that most people plan their vacations with better care than they plan their lives. Perhaps that is because escape is easier than change." -- Jim Rohn

"Every evening, write down the six most important things that you must do the next day. Then while you sleep your subconscious will work on the best ways for you to accomplish them. Your next day will go much more smoothly." -- Tom Hopkins

"Every minute you spend in planning saves 10 minutes in execution; this gives you a 1,000 percent Return on Energy!" -- Brian Tracy

You can never really fathom the mind of another. -- Chinese Proverb

A contented mind is a continual feast. -- American Proverb

Any mother could perform the jobs of several air-traffic controllers with ease. - Lisa Alther, writer

It is better to wear out than to rust out.

Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of others, but from doing something worthwhile. Wilfred Grenfell (1865 - 1940) English medical missionary

Joy has nothing to do with material things, or with a man's outward circumstance...A man living in the lap of luxury can be wretched, and a man in the depths of poverty can overflow with joy. William Barclay (1907 - 1978) Clergyman and writer

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst, for they are sticking to their diet.

"You don't buy a fiddle today and play in Carnegie Hall tomorrow."

In moments of despair and doubt and desolation, Martin Luther would say to himself as a reminder, "I was baptized."

January 3, 2010

2010-01-31T14:44:00.000-08:00

One Sunday at our church, a visitor came who brought his cellular phone and sat in the midst of the congregation. In the middle of the pastor's teaching, the phone began to ring, startling everyone. Without missing a beat, the pastor said, "If that's for me, tell them I'm busy!"
If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
"If you want to be a holy man, you've got to be committed. When you make a decision you cannot waiver in any way. You'd never see Gandhi during a hunger strike sneaking into the kitchen in the middle of the night.
'Gandhi...what are you doing down there?'
'Umm, I thought I heard a prowler...and I was going to hit him over the head with this big bowl of potato salad.'" -Jim Carrey
The purpose of a great sermon is to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable. The latter is preferable to the former.

Erma's New Year's Resolutions - The late Erma Bombeck made these New Year's resolutions:
1. I'm going to clean this dump just as soon as the kids grow up.
2. I will go to no doctor whose office plants have died.
3. I'm going to follow my husband's suggestion to put a little excitement into my life by living within our budget.
4. I'm going to apply for a hardship scholarship to Weight Watchers.
5. I will never loan my car to anyone I have given birth to.
6. And just like last year...I am going to remember that my children need love the most when they deserve it the least.

Almost everyone is capable of being a Pharisee from time to time.

Top 10 Stories of 2009
The editors of WORLD Magazine — the nation's most widely-read Christian news magazine — and the U.S. editors and news directors of The Associated Press have released their list of the top 10 stories of 2009.
From WORLD Magazine: 1) Inauguration of President Barack Obama 2) War in Afghanistan and Pakistan 3) War in Iraq 4) Climategate 5) Healthcare debate 6) Recession 7) Nidal Hasan, Fort Hood, and the domestic terror threat 8) Honduras: Triumph of Latin American Democracy 9) Creation of ACNA — Anglican Church in North America 10) U-turn for U.S. pro-life message overseas.
From The Associated Press: 1) The economy 2) Obama inauguration 3) Health care 4) Auto industry 5) Swine flu 6) Afghanistan 7) Michael Jackson dies 8) Fort Hood rampage 9) Edward Kennedy dies 10) Miracle on Hudson.

How Americans Identify Themselves
This Christmas season, 78 percent of Americans identify with some form of Christian religion, a proportion that has been declining in recent decades, says new Gallup® poll data. The major reason for this decline has been an increase in the percentage of Americans claiming no religious identity, now at 13 percent of all adults.
One of the most significant trends documented during a 60-year average of Gallup's religious identity data in America is the substantial increase in the percentage of American adults who don't identify with any specific religion. In 1948, only 2 percent of Americans did not identify with a religion; in 1998, 6 percent; in 2002, 10 percent and this year's average of 13 percent of Americans who claim no religious identity is the highest in Gallup records.

As most of us joyously celebrate the holidays with friends, family and loved ones, 85 percent of nursing-home residents won't receive a single guest — and not just during this season, but year round.

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." -- Joseph Addison

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." -- Lewis L. Dunnington

"My mother taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces." -- Wilma Rudolph 1940-1994, Olympic Gold Medalist

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep
A little girl was about to undergo a dangerous operation. Just before the doctor administered the anesthetic, he said, "Before we can make you well, we must put you to sleep."
The girl responded, "Oh, if you are going to put me to sleep, then I must say my prayers first." And she folded her hands, closed her eyes, and said:" Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake; I pray the Lord my soul to take. And this I ask for Jesus' sake. Amen." Later on the surgeon admitted that he prayed that prayer that night for the first time in thirty years.

NEW YEAR 2010 I look at the new calendar for the coming year. There will be Three Hundred and sixty five days. It is time to reflect back and make new decisions. Have I learned to let God guide my ways?
First, I want a closer walk with Jesus, my Lord. I plan to start and end each day in His care. I will read His Word with new expectancy. I will decide to spend more time in prayer.
Last year, I learned many new lessons. I became more dependent on Him. Those things that I had thought were important, Have now faded away or grown dim. I have more of a desire to be like Him. He is teaching me how to obey. I want less and less of what this world offers. I need to listen closer to what He will say. I need to be more conscious of those in need. I will trust Him for more smiles to give. I want to be more careful of what I say As others will watch how I live. May this New Year be a joyful one. As I allow Him to just lead me along. May I surrender any selfish desires And remember right from wrong. Evelyn D. Putnam

TV TAGLINES
- A fool and his money are the prime-time television target audience.
- An idle mind is television's playground!
- But Daddy, you watched the news on television YESTERDAY.
- Television is a medium - so called because it is neither rare nor well-done
- There's just not enough sax and violins on television!
- Were there "radio dinners" before television?
- You aren't a kid any more when you can't remember the last time you lay on the floor to watch television.
- Television has proved that people will look at anything rather than each other. -- Ann Landers

It’s amusing, isn’t it? Measly human beings puff themselves up to appear grander than they are. But God, who is the source of everything in this universe, humbled himself . . . out of love for you and me.

"May all your troubles last as long as your New Years Resolutions." Joey Adams

I am the new year. I am an unspoiled page in your book of time.
I am your next chance at the art of living.
I am your opportunity to practice what you have learned about life during the last twelve months.
All that you sought and didn’t find is hidden in me, waiting for you to search it but with more determination.
All the good that you tried for and didn’t achieve is mine to grant when you have fewer conflicting desires.
All that you dreamed but didn’t dare to do, all that you hoped but did not will, all the faith that you claimed but did not have -- these slumber lightly, waiting to be awakened by the touch of a strong purpose.
I am your opportunity to renew you allegiance to Him who said, "Behold, I make all things new."

A Year of Time Though even thinking on the subject of time may prove discomforting, it is not a bad idea"especially at the beginning of a new year.
As we look into 2010 we look at a block of time. We see 12 months, 52 weeks, 365 days, 8,760 hours, 525,600 minutes, 31,536,000 seconds. And all is a gift from God. We have done nothing to deserve it, earn it, or purchased it. Like the air we breathe, time comes to us as a part of life.
The gift of time is not ours alone. It is given equally to each person. Rich and poor,
educated and ignorant, strong and weak "every man, woman and child has the same twenty-four hours every day. Another important thing about time is that you cannot stop it. There is no way to slow it down, turn it off, or adjust it. Time marches on.
And you cannot bring back time. Once it is gone, it is gone. Yesterday is lost forever. If yesterday is lost, tomorrow is uncertain. We may look ahead at a full year block of time, but we really have no guarantee that we will experience any of it.
Obviously, time is one of our most precious possessions. We can waste it. We can worry over it. We can spend it on ourselves. Or, as good stewards, we can invest it in the kingdom of God. The new year is full of time. As the seconds tick away, will you be tossing time out the window, or will you make every minute count?
But history will judge you, and as the years pass, you will ultimately judge yourself, in the extent to which you have used your gifts and talents to lighten and enrich the lives of your fellow men. In your hands lies the future of your world and the fulfillment of the best qualities of your own spirit. Robert F. Kennedy

"There are three kinds of givers -- the flint, the sponge and the honeycomb. To get anything out of a flint you must hammer it. And then you get only chips and sparks. To get water out of a sponge you must squeeze it, and the more you use pressure, the more you will get. But the honeycomb just overflows with its own sweetness. Which kind of giver are you?" - Unknown

December 27

2010-01-31T14:41:00.000-08:00

Seasonal thought. “The coming of Christ by way of a Bethlehem manger seems strange and stunning. But when we take Him out of the manger and invite Him into our hearts, then the meaning unfolds and the strangeness vanishes.” (C Neil Strait)

Christmas. Have you prepared a wish list or a give list? Christmas is giving not wishing.

Different ages see the same thing in different ways. To a child Christmas is wondrous because it is new; to his grandfather Christmas is wondrous because it is old. Zig Ziglar

Today’s churches are in the business of manufacturing a gospel that is acceptable to the world. The Gospel does not need to be manufactured, tweaked, altered, tinkered with, or revamped, it has been in God’s heart from before the foundations of the world. Quit impeaching it and start preaching it.

A pessimist is one who feels bad when he feels good for fear he'll feel worse when he feels better.

Some people believe in miracles but do not expect to see them happen today.

He who mistrusts most should be trusted least.

Some people pray for a bushel, then carry a pint cup.

I worry, I putter, I push and shove, hunting little molehills to make mountains of.

2010 Contract
After serious and cautious consideration, your contract of friendship has been renewed for the New Year 2010! It was a very hard decision to make. So try not to mess it up!!!
My Wish for You in 2010
May peace break into your house and may thieves come to steal your debts. May the pockets of your jeans become a magnet of $100 bills.
May love stick to your face like Vaseline and may laughter assault your lips!
May your clothes smell of success like smoking tires and may happiness slap you across the face and may your tears be that of joy.
May the problems you had forget your home address!
In simple words ....May 2010 be the best year of your life!!!

See if you recognize the songs:
"Oh, what fun it is to ride with one horse, soap and hay. . ."
"He's making a list, chicken and rice . . ."
"On the first day of Christmas, my tulip gave to me . . ."
"In the meadow we can build a snowman, and pretend that he is sparse and brown .
"Noel, Noel, Barney's the king of Israel . . ."

Did you hear about the family who owned an English pointer and an Irish setter? The dogs get together at Christmas time and have pointsetters.

At age 83, Granddad was admitted to the hospital for the first time. "What is this?" he asked as he held up the bell cord they had fastened to his pillow.
"That's the bell, Granddad," I replied.
He pulled it several times, then remarked, "I don't hear it ringing."
"Oh, it doesn't ring," I explained. "It turns on a light in the hall for the nurse."
"Well!" he replied indignantly, "if the nurse wants a light on in the hall, she can turn it on herself."

Jesus' earthly life is framed by two impossibilities apart from God: A virgin's womb and an empty tomb.

This is an ancient art fallen into disuse. A really good, honest compliment shows that you appreciate the person you admire. There is no shortage of critics. But there is a dearth of people who say nice things when they genuinely feel them.

Some of us make resolutions like one man, named George, I heard about recently. He said to a friend: "There's nothing like getting up at six in the morning, going for a run around the park, and taking a brisk shower before breakfast."
His friend Bob asked, "How long have you been doing this?"
George said: "I start tomorrow."

BEWARE! IT’S TIME FOR SAD (SEASONAL AFFECTIVE DISORDER)
Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) affects about 5% of us severely and perhaps 25% of us more mildly. Women and young adults are more likely to suffer from it. It’s a form of depression that, according to the National Mental Health Association (NMHA), is a real illness with sometimes severe symptoms. It’s worse in January and February, though starts as early as September. SAD is believed to be caused by melatonin, a sleep-related hormone secreted by the pineal gland in the brain. Melatonin production increases in the dark, so in the winter, when the days are shorter and darker, production increases, causing symptoms of depression. SAD is extremely rare for people living within 30 degrees of the Equator, where daylight hours are long and extremely bright.
The Symptoms? Sleep problems, lethargy, overeating, depression, social problems, anxiety, loss of libido, mood changes, and a weakened immune system. For complete description, go here: http://www.sada.org.uk/symptoms.htm.
The Cure? Light suppresses the secretion of melatonin, so for lighter cases, get outside more, exercise outside, and arrange for more light at work and at home. Phototherapy has been helpful in more severe cases. A light box can be used that emits very bright light through a filter. Please check with your personal physician if you think you have SAD. About the Author : Susan Dunn, MA Clinical Psychology, cEQc, The EQ CoachTM, can be reached online at http://www.susandunn.cc.

- Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
- If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?
- I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, Where's the self-help section? She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
- Could it be that all those trick-or-treaters wearing sheets aren't going as ghosts but as mattresses?
- Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?
- Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?
- How do they get the deer to cross at that yellow road sign?

Without the Way, there is no going; without the Truth, there is no knowing; without the Life, there is no living. — Thomas á Kempis.

The bus driver stopped to pick up the child for preschool. The driver noticed the child hugging an older woman as he left the house. The driver asked, "Is that your grandmother?"
"Yes," the little boy answered, "she's visiting us for Christmas."
"How nice! Where does she live?"
"She lives at the airport. Whenever we want her, we just go out there and get her."

It’s likely that if Jesus were still living among us today, He would be considered a criminal. Everyone would be mad at him ...

• The FDA for turning water into wine without a license;

• The EPA for killing fig trees;

• The American Medical Association for practicing medicine without a license;

• The Department of Health for asking people to open graves, for raising the dead and for feeding 5,000 people in un-sanitary conditions;

• The NEA for teaching without a certificate;

• OSHA for walking on water without a life jacket and other unsafe boating practices;

• SPCA for driving hogs into the sea;

• The National Board of Psychiatrists for giving advice on how to live a guilt-free life;

• The NOW for not choosing a female apostle;

• The Interfaith Movement for condemning all other religions.

“Mary's Dream . . ." (By Lloyd D. Lance)
"I had a dream Joseph. I do not understand it, not really, but I think it was about a birthday celebration for our Son. I think that was what it was all about.
"The people had been preparing for it for about six weeks. They had decorated the house and bought new gifts.
"It was peculiar, though, because the presents weren't for our Son. They wrapped them in beautiful paper and tied them with lovely bows and stacked them under a tree.
"Yes, a tree, Joseph, right in their house! They decorated the tree, also. The branches were full of glowing balls and sparkling ornaments. There was a figure on the top of the tree. It looked like an angel might look. Oh, it was beautiful.
"Everyone was laughing and happy. They were all excited about the gifts.
"They gave the gifts to each other, Joseph, not to our Son. I don't think they even knew Him. They never mentioned His name.
"Doesn't it seem odd for people to go to all that trouble to celebrate someone's birthday if they don't know Him?
"I had the strangest feeling that if our Son had gone to this celebration, He would have been intruding.
"Everything was so beautiful, Joseph, and everyone so full of cheer, but it made me want to cry.
"How sad for Jesus . . . not to be wanted at His own birthday celebration.
"I'm glad it was only a dream.
"How terrible, Joseph, if it had been real."

There was once a family that celebrated Christmas every year with a birthday party for Jesus. An extra chair of honor at the table became the family's reminder of Jesus' presence. A cake with candles, along with the singing of "Happy Birthday" expressed the family's joy in Jesus presence.
One year a Christmas afternoon visitor asked five-year-old Ruth, "Did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?" After a moment's hesitation, she answered, "No, but then it's not my birthday!"

A couple were going out for the evening. They'd gotten ready, all dolled up, cat put out, etc. The taxi arrives, and as the couple got out, the cat shoots back in. They don't want the cat shut in the house, so the wife goes out to the taxi while the husband goes upstairs to chase the cat out.
The wife, not wanting it known that the house will be empty explains to the taxi driver "He's just going upstairs to say goodbye to my mother."
A few minutes later, the husband gets into the cab - "Sorry I took so long," he says, "The stupid old thing was hiding under the bed and I had to poke her with a coat hanger to get her to come out!"

How much television will the average American watch next year? According to the just-released Statistical Abstract of the United States, the answer is 1,555 hours (678 hours of broadcast TV and 877 hours of cable and satellite offerings). That works out to 4.3 hours daily. When other media are added in (radio, Internet, newspapers, magazines, books and video games), the daily media consumption figure rises to a whopping 9.65 hours. Only one activity topped media use: breathing.

December 20

2009-12-22T21:37:00.000-08:00

The pages of Scripture bring us face to face with ourselves and with God's grand design for our lives. --David McCasland

A coworker asked her grandson what his favorite Christmas song is. After much grumbling about Christmas he finally admitted that "Please, Naughty Dog" was his favorite. (Feliz Navidad!)

“Slowing down doesn’t mean accomplishing less; it means cutting out counterproductive distractions and the perception of being rushed.” —Tim Ferriss

“He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.” —Friedrich Nietzsche

“The will to win is important, but the will to prepare is vital.” —Joe Paterno

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the right to do the same. Voltaire

If the data devoured in the United States last year were converted to text there would be enough books to bury the country under a pile seven feet deep, according to a study released Wednesday.

US residents consumed about 1.3 trillion hours worth of information from radios, televisions, computers, newspapers, mobile telephones, and other sources,

"This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ." Frank McKibben

"Dependent people need others to get what they want. Independent people can get what they want through their own efforts. Interdependent people combine their own efforts with the efforts of others to achieve their greatest success." -Stephen Covey

"You cannot succeed by yourself. It's hard to find a rich hermit." -Jim Rohn

The U.S. Debt Limit has been raised about a hundred times since 1940, when it was $49 billion - about five days worth of federal spending now.

CHRISTMAS has really become a hopeless muddle of confusion. The humility and the poverty of the stable are somehow confused with the wealth and indulgence and selfishness of gift giving. The quietness of Bethlehem is mingled with the din of shopping malls and freeway traffic. The soberness of the Incarnation is somehow mixed with the drunkenness of this season. Blinking colored lights somehow have some connection to the star of Bethlehem. John F. MacArthur Jr., "The Incarnation of the Triune God"

A little boy asked his mother why the minister got a month's vacation while his dad only got two weeks. The mother answered, "Well, son, if he's a good minister, he needs it. If he isn't, the congregation needs it." - Garrison Keillor?

The whole concept of God taking human shape had never made much sense to me. That was because, I realized one wonderful day, it was so simple. For people with bodies, important things like love have to be embodied. That's all. God had to be embodied, or else people with bodies would never in a trillion years understand about love.
"He came down from heaven" can almost be transposed into "Heaven drew earth up into it," and locality, limitation, sleep, sweat, footsore weariness, frustration, pain, doubt, and death are, from before all worlds, known by God from within. The pure light walks the earth; the darkness, received into the heart of Deity, is there swallowed up. Where, except in uncreated light, can the darkness be drowned?

"Light is the task where many share the toil." -Homer

The virgin birth has never been a major stumbling block in my struggle with Christianity; it's far less mind-boggling than the Power of all Creation stooping so low as to become one of us.

We must never allow anything to blind us to the true significance of what happened at Bethlehem so long ago. Nothing can alter the fact that we live on a visited planet.

It is no use saying that we are born 2,000 years too late to give room to Christ . …Christ is always with us, always asking for room in our hearts . …And giving shelter or food to anyone who asks for it, or needs it, is giving it to Christ.

Human nature is like a stable inhabited by the ox of passion and the ass of prejudice — animals which take up a lot of room and which I suppose most of us are feeding on the quiet. And it is there between them, pushing them out, that Christ must be born, and in their very manger he must be laid—and they will be the first to fall on their knees before him. Sometimes Christians seem far nearer to those animals than to Christ in his simple poverty, self-abandoned to God.

Probably few of us have the faith or the nerve to tamper with hallowed Christmas traditions on a large scale, or with our other holiday celebrations. But a small experiment might prove interesting. What if, instead of doing something, we were to be something special? Be a womb. Be a dwelling for God. Be surprised.

We are better givers than getters, not because we are generous people but because we are proud, arrogant people. The Christmas ...

HOW FAR CAN WE GO? In New York's Hayden Planetarium a special Christmas holiday show was enhanced by an added feature. A giant lollipop tree was projected onto the planetarium dome, surrounded by a horizon filled with brilliantly colored toys which came to life and cavorted to the tune of "Jingle Bells." At the climax a huge figure of Santa Claus faded out in a snow storm, and the star of Bethlehem broke through into a sky that produced exactly the Palestine sky on the night of the nativity. The designer of this show may not realize that he dramatically staged the supreme Christmas message our world needs to understand: The recovery of the lost meaning of Christmas. This is not said in any criticism of Santa Claus; the effect must have delighted the hearts of all the children who saw it, without doing violence to their love of Bethlehem. But for adults it is a tragic loss to substitute "Jingle Bells" for "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing," and a lollipop tree for the manger of Bethlehem. Without the birth of Christ, can it really be Christmas? How far can we go and how much can we accept?

"Christmas Gifts for Men"
Christmas is just around the corner so here are some gift ideas for those special men in your life! Buying gifts for men is not nearly as complicated as it is for women. Follow these rules and you should have no problems.
Rule #1: When in doubt - buy him a cordless drill. It does not matter if he already has one. I have a friend who owns 17 and he has yet to complain. As a man, you can never have too many cordless drills. No one knows why.
Rule #2: If you cannot afford a cordless drill, buy him anything with the word ratchet or socket in it. Men love saying those two words. "Hey George, can I borrow your ratchet?" "OK. Bye-the-way, are you through with my 3/8-inch socket yet?" Again, no one knows why.
Rule#3: If you are really, really broke, buy him anything for his car. A 99-cent ice scraper, a small bottle of deicer or something to hang from his rear view mirror. Men love gifts for their cars. No one knows why.
Rule #4: Do not buy men socks. Do not buy men ties. And never buy men bathrobes. I was told that if God had wanted men to wear bathrobes, he wouldn't have invented Jockey shorts.
Rule #5: You can buy men new remote controls to replace the ones they have worn out. If you have a lot of money buy your man a big-screen TV with the little picture in the corner. Watch him go wild as he flips, and flips, and flips.
Rule #6: Buy men label makers. Almost as good as cordless drills. Within a couple of weeks there will be labels absolutely everywhere. "Socks. Shorts. Cups. Saucers. Door. Lock. Sink." You get the idea. No one knows why.
Rule#7: Never buy a man anything that says "some assembly required" on the box. It will ruin his Special Day and he will always have parts left over.
Rule#8: Good places to shop for men include Northwest Iron Works, Parr Lumber, Home Depot, John Deere, Valley RV Center, and Les Schwab Tire. (NAPA Auto Parts and Sear's Clearance Centers are also excellent men's stores. It doesn't matter if he doesn't know what it is. "From NAPA Auto, eh? Must be something I need. Hey! Isn't this a starter for a '68
Ford Fairlane? Wow! Thanks.")
Rule #9: Men enjoy danger. That's why they never cook - but they will barbecue. Get him a monster barbecue with a 100-pound propane tank. Tell him the gas line leaks. "Oh the thrill! The challenge! Who wants a hamburger?"
Rule #10: Tickets to a football game are a smart gift. However, he will not appreciate tickets to "A Retrospective of 19th Century Quilts." everyone knows why.
Rule #11: Men love chainsaws. Never, ever, buy a man you love a chainsaw. If you don't know why - please refer to Rule #6 and what happens when he gets a label maker.
Rule #12: It's hard to beat a really good wheelbarrow or an aluminum extension ladder. Never buy a real man a step ladder. It must be an extension ladder. No one knows why.
Rule #13: Rope. Men love rope. It takes us back to our cowboy origins, or at least The Boy Scouts. Nothing says love like a hundred feet of 3/8" manilla rope. No one knows why.

Sir Winston Churchill, "An optimist sees an opportunity in every calamity; a pessimist sees a calamity in every opportunity."

I'm not into working out. My philosophy: No pain. No pain.

"If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." ~ Mark Twain

"Top 10 Ways To Confuse Santa Claus on Christmas"
10. Instead of milk and cookies leave Santa a Weight Watchers bar and a note explaining that you think he could stand to lose a few pounds!
9. While Santa’s in the house... go find his sleigh and write him a speeding ticket!
8. While Santa’s in the house... replace all his reindeer with exact replicas. Then wait and see what happens when he tries to fly!
7. Keep a bull in your living room. If you think a bull goes crazy when he sees a little red cape, wait until he sees that big fat Santa suit!!
6. Leave a note by the telephone telling Santa that Mrs. Claus called and wants to remind him to pick up a loaf of bread on his way home.
5. Take everything out of your house as if it has just been robbed. When Santa arrives, show up dressed like a policeman and say, "Well, well, well… They always return to the scene of the crime"
4. Leave out a copy of your Christmas list with last-minute corrections.
3. Leave out a Santa suit with a dry-cleaning bill.
2. Instead of Christmas ornaments decorate your tree with pumpkins!
1. Dress up like the Easter Bunny. Wait for Santa Claus to come and then say, "This neighborhood ain't big enough for the both of us buddy!!"

"Separate Christmas Day from Good Friday, and Christmas is doomed --doomed to decay into a merely sentimental or superstitious or sensuous "eat-drink-and-be-merry" festivity of December. Bethlehem and Golgotha, the Manger and the Cross, the birth and the death, must always be seen together, if the real Christmas is to survive with all its profound inspirations; for 'the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; and to give His life a ransom for many.'" - J. Sidlow Baxter

December 13

2009-12-22T21:36:00.000-08:00

The Bible is the only book where the Author is always present.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish & Game, both male female reindeer grow antlers in the summer each year. Males drop their antlers at the beginning of winter, while females keep theirs until the spring. Therefore, according to everything we've seen, every one of those reindeer on Santa's team is FEMALE. "We should have known this when they were able to find their way."

In the good times and in the bad times _ Jesus is Lord.
Perhaps the merriest season's greeting of all time was given by the angels when they announced Christ's birth: "Unto you is born this day a Savior..."
• "Unto you".......That is personal!
• "Is born this day".......That is present!
• "A Savior"........That is precious!

"If you judge people, you have no time to love them." -- Mother Teresa
In one hand I have a dream, and in the other I have an obstacle. Tell me, which one grabs your attention? Henry Parks

Man is so made that when anything fires his soul, impossibilities vanish. Jean de la Fontaine (1621-1695) Poet

"Jews and Christians are different in a lot of ways. Some Christian people will actually have religious bumper stickers on their cars. Like 'Jesus is King', 'The Lord Saves'. Jews don't do that. You'll never see, 'Honk If You Love Moses.'" - Gregg Rogell
Flee temptation and don't leave a forwarding address.
Oh, what fun it is to ride with one horse, soap and hay
O come, froggy faithful
You'll tell Carol, "Be a skunk, I require"
Good tidings we bring to you and your kid
Gloria. . . . in a raunchy stable.
"While shepherds washed their socks at night"

Gracie Allen's Classic Recipe for Roast Beef
1 large Roast of beef
1 small Roast of beef
Take the two roasts and put them in the oven. When the little one burns, the big one is done

I watched a movie about a baby hen, it was a real chick flick.

"I do the best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing so until the end." -- Abraham Lincoln

"Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul." -- Samuel Ullman

Finding Approval from God Alone
There is a story told of one of Verdi's operas. The composer was young and this particular work had been produced in a hurry. Verdi knew that it was not his best. It was produced for the first time in Florence and at the end the enthusiastic yet undiscriminating audience went into quite unwarranted raptures and cheered the composer. The cheers echoed down the halls of the theatre. But Verdi paid little heed.
He had eyes for only one man. He looked to the box where this one man sat. All the plaudits of the crowd would not compensate for the lack of this man's approval. The man was Rossini and he was not smiling.
Much is wrong with our society. We can all make a list; broken homes, the increase in violence and dishonesty, the lack of integrity in public life, the slow slide of the church into adopting the ways of the world, the decay of sexual morality. Who is willing to be the watchman who sounds the alarm? Who will call us back to God in repentance? It will not be a popular task.
This Advent we salute the forerunner who prepared the way by challenging the people's sins. He was not after the popular vote. He had eyes only for God. Are we ready to share his work and mission?

Christmas Means Hope
Senator John McCain spent 5 and a half years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam in the 1960s. During that time, he was frequently tortured or held in solitary confinement. He reports that his lowest point came on Christmas Eve 1969. McCain was giving up hope of ever getting out of Vietnam alive. To compound his homesickness, the captors played the song "I'll Be Home for Christmas" over the PA system.
Just then, McCain heard tapping on his cell wall. This was the communication code the POWs used to communicate with one another. On the other side of the wall was Ernie Bruce, a Marine who had been imprisoned for four years already. In spite of his dire situation, Bruce was tapping out, "We'll all be home for Christmas. God bless America." These simple words of comfort restored John McCain's hope. The message of Christmas is always one of hope. This world needs saving, but God began that process of salvation two thousand years ago with the birth of a babe in Bethlehem. There's something about Christmas that elevates us. Christmas is about hope of a better world to come.

Top Ten Things Wives Don't Want to Hear Their Husbands Say on Christmas Day
10. "You like it, hon? Almost look like real diamonds, don't they?"
9. "That cheese ball was for later?"
8. "I never imagined a deep-fried turkey would flame up like that."
7. "Timmy, why is Mommy's present hissing?"
6. "It's the thought that counts, right?"
5. "Hey, the game's about to start!"
4. "That's right, hon. Your own subscription to "Guns & Ammo."
3. "Wow, thanks, Uncle Ted. Bagpipes!"
2. "It's two sizes smaller, darling- - you know, for motivation."
1. "Well, if it isn't Roy and Angela and their seven kids - - with suitcases! What a pleasant surprise!"

"The glory that goes with wealth is fleeting and fragile; virtue is a possession glorious and eternal." -- Sallust

"Example moves the world more than doctrine." -- Henry Miller

"Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas." -- Calvin Coolidge

"This is Christmas: not the tinsel, not the giving and receiving, not even the carols, but the humble heart that receives anew the wondrous gift, the Christ." ~~-- Frank McKibben

"The message of Christmas is not about the proclamation of a holiday or the declaration of a season. It is about the proclamation of a Person and the declaration of Salvation. The birth of the child in the manger was an event that prophets had written about, the people of Israel had spoken about, the patriarchs of old had wondered about, and the angels of God shouted about on that glorious night when Christ was born." -- Roy Lessin,

December 6

2009-12-22T21:33:00.000-08:00

Don´t tell God how Big your storm is. Tell the storm how Big your God is!

The U.S. deficit set a record this year: $1.4 trillion. We’re teenagers when it comes to money. We want China to drop us off at the mall with a credit card and come back at 8 o’clock.
The dollar continues to fall. A lot of countries aren't even accepting dollars anymore. I don’t want to say that Geithner is not doing a good job, but today God asked for his name to be taken off the dollar.
Billy Graham, who has often played the 20th century role of John the Baptizer, had these comments about the disease running rampant in our world: "We're suffering from only one disease in the world. Our basic problem is not a race problem. Our basic problem is not a poverty problem. Our basic problem is not a war problem. Our basic problem is a heart problem. We need to get the heart changed, the heart transformed."
"The budget should be balanced, the Treasury should be refilled, public debt should be reduced, the arrogance of officialdom should be tempered and controlled, and the assistance to foreign lands should be curtailed lest Rome become bankrupt. People must again learn to work, instead of living on public assistance." - Cicero - 55 BC

Competitive Britons send nativity costs soaring: LONDON (Reuters) – Gone are the days of shepherds in tea towels and tinsel-clad angels. Britain's competitive parents are forking out on luxury pashmina shawls and velour dressing gowns to make their child the star of the annual nativity play.
The rise in so-called "manger chic" has seen parents spend up to 150 pounds ($250) on arctic fur throws for children cast as sheep and ivory bridesmaid dresses for angels, according to department stores group Debenhams.
"The amount of money that some parents want to spend on their child's nativity play appearance would enable Baby Jesus to leave the stable and check into a five star hotel," said spokesman Ed Watson.
"Plastic" Red Kettles
This year, the Salvation Army will again be testing kettles that take debit and credit cards. The growth of so-called "plastic kettles" comes as fewer shoppers are carrying cash. Last year, Dallas and Colorado Springs tested the credit machines, and this year they will be tested in 30 cities. In Colorado Springs, fundraising last year went up $64,000 from the year before — an 11 percent increase. About $5,000 of the increase was from credit or debit cards at the kettles.

AVOID parking tickets by leaving your windshield wipers turned to 'fast wipe' whenever you leave your car parked illegally.

Live simply that others may simply live.

MAN MADE GLOBAL WARMING "The mass of the earths atmosphere is 5 quadrillion metric tons. Let`s put that into perspective: That`s5,000,000,000,000,000,00 0 TONS of water vapor and gas. That might as well be infinity as far as man is concerned. Of that amount only 0.038% is CO2 which you can call ZERO POINT ZERO. Getting the picture here? Why this man made global warming hoax EVER got legs is something I`ll never understand in a? billion years, or make that 5 quadrillion years."

A hat was passed around a church congregation to take up an offering for the visiting preacher. Presently it was returned to him: embarrassingly empty.
Slowly the parson inverted the hat and shook it meaningfully. Then raising his eyes heavenward, he exclaimed, "I thank you, Lord, that I got my hat back from this congregation."
"The world takes its notions of God from the people who say that they belong to God's family. They read us a great deal more than they read the Bible. They see us; they only hear about Jesus Christ." - Alexander Maclaren

George Frideric Handel literally locked himself in a room in his London home for 24 straight days while writing his incomparable oratorio, Messiah. That was his all-consuming objective. When the great musician emerged after more than three weeks of scarcely eating or sleeping, the entire work was done.
I love that story . . . and not just because the inspiring arias and choruses of Messiah are among my favorite pieces of Christmas music. I’m in awe of Handel’s dedication to finishing the task at hand. It became his magnificent obsession.
"My children will not remember the words of wisdom I've passed along over the years, nor will yours remember the good advice you've given. However, etched in their minds and planted in their hearts is a permanent picture of who you are and how you've lived before them." - Dorothy Kelley
A new survey by Rasmussen Reports shows that 69 percent of Americans prefer "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays." -

It seems fitting that our Savior was born in a messy place, a barn, with stinky animals all around. At the very beginning of the story, we understand how much he humbled himself. God became man. He became man and hung out with sinners. He ate with them and the “church leaders” scoffed. “What’s he doing?” they asked. Then they killed him so his blood could save the “dirty” and “damned.” It’s not the healthy who need a doctor. It’s the sick. Be like Jesus. Spend time with sinners. Bring them the good news.

Junk emails are still clogging up Inboxes, with spam accounting for 89.73 per cent of all email traffic, new figures claim.
JOY 11
TOY DISCLAIMERS
Warning: This fad will disappear in 6 weeks.
Caution: Care Bears do not actually care very much.
Warning: This toy produces substantially less childish glee in real life than it does in the TV commercial.
No beanies or babies harmed in the manufacture of this product.
Some dismemberment may occur.
In case of breakage, scream until Dad buys a replacement.
Not to be taken internally, literally or seriously.
Use as an actual terrorist device not recommended.
Do not attempt to combine your Ultra Mega Warrior with your cat to make Ultra Mega Cat Warrior.
Some assimilation required. Resistance is futile.

Personal wealth is distributed so unevenly across the world that the richest two per cent of adults own more than 50 per cent of the world’s assets while the poorest half hold only 1 per cent of wealth.
A survey released on Tuesday shows that middle-income countries with high growth rates still have a long way to go before they have a hope of catching up with the levels of prosperity of the richest.
Adults with more than $2,200 of assets were in the top half of the global wealth league table, while those with more than $61,000 were in the top 10 per cent, according to the data from the World Institute fpr Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-Wider).
To belong to the top 1 per cent of the world’s wealthiest adults you would need more than $500,000, something that 37m adults have achieved.
So much of the world’s wealth is concentrated in few hands that if all the world’s wealth was distributed evenly, each person would have $20,500 of assets to use.
Almost 90 per cent of the world’s wealth is held in North America, Europe and high-income Asian and Pacific countries, such as Japan and Australia.
While North America has 6 per cent of the world’s adult population, it accounts for 34 per cent of household wealth.
The concentration of wealth in different countries varies considerably, with the top 10 per cent in the US holding 70 per cent of the country’s wealth, compared with 61 per cent in France, 56 per cent in the UK, 44 per cent in Germany and 39 per cent in Japan.

One Sunday evening, I overheard my five-year-old daughter, Julie, practicing "Hark the Herald Angels Sing," a song she'd been rehearsing that morning in church for next week's Christmas program. It was all I could do to suppress my laughter when, in place of "with angelic host proclaim," Julie sang, "with the jelly toast proclaim."

"Life isn’t a matter of milestones, but of moments." -- Rose Kennedy

"My life as a writer consists of 1/8 talent and 7/8 discipline." -- John Irving

The vigor or your spiritual life will be in exact proportion to the place held by the Savior:
Jesus had no servants, yet they called Him Master.
Had no degree, yet they called Him Teacher.
Had no medicines, yet they called Him Healer.
Had no army, yet kings feared Him.
He won no military battles, yet He conquered the world.
He committed no crime, yet they crucified Him.
He was buried in a tomb, yet He lives today.
Feel honored to serve such a Leader who loves us.

In a survey, 71 percent of Christians admitted that their "understanding of faith was fundamentally shaped by childhood religious experiences." Yet, only 48 percent see it as their responsibility as Christians to share their faith with children. At the same time, 71 percent said they like seeing a child understand how the Bible relates to daily life and 69 percent said they want to be part of a child's spiritual development.

"Young people view more than 20,000 ads per year on television alone and increasingly are being exposed to advertising on the Internet, in magazines and in schools. "These ads influence kids to demand poor food choices, and to think drinking is cool, sex is a recreational activity and anorexia is fashionable."

Americans in Deep Debt For the first time in history, most Americans owe more than they make in a year, according to research conducted by the Center for American Progress. The increase has occurred steadily over the last ten years, and now most families owe 129 percent of their after-tax income. It has also been found that 97.5 percent of Americans are no longer able to retire at a normal age due to lack of means.

"Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect." -- Leonardo da Vinci

November 29

2009-12-22T21:31:00.000-08:00

The feast of Christmas touches our hearts and makes us dreams because first of all, it's a celebration of God's homecoming. This is the wild wonderful message for Christmas: God abandons heaven and comes to us to be at home with us where life is never perfect where people are often hurting and fearful, where even the most cherished rituals become empty at times. God comes to us in the most unexpected ways, in the most unexpected people, in the most unexpected places… Robert Rimbo

God Is like DIAL SOAP Aren't you glad you have Him? Don't you wish everybody did?

"Red meat is NOT bad for you. Now blue-green meat... THAT'S bad for you!" - Tommy Smothers

"Pain is often the pathway to maturity. Unfortunately we want the product without the process." - Rick Warren

If we had to tolerate in others all that we permit in ourselves, life would become completely unbearable. Georges Courteline

There should be a solemn pause before we rush to judgment. Thomas Erskine

Luther on Signs of Christ's Coming
I do not wish to force any one to believe as I do; neither will I permit anyone to deny me the right to believe that the last day is near at hand. These words and signs of Christ compel me to believe that such is the case. For the history of the centuries that have passed since the birth of Christ nowhere reveals conditions like those of the present. There has never been such building and planting in the world. There has never been such gluttonous and varied eating and drinking as now. Wearing apparel has reached its limit in costliness. Who has ever heard of such commerce as now encircles the earth? There have arisen all kinds of art and sculpture, embroidery and engraving, the like of which has not been seen during the whole Christian era.
In addition men are so delving into the mysteries of things that today a boy of twenty knows more than twenty doctors formerly knew. There is such a knowledge of languages and all manner of wisdom that it must be confessed, the world has reached such great heights in the things that pertain to the body, or as Christ calls them, "cares of life", eating, drinking, building, planting, buying, selling, marrying and giving in marriage, that every one must see and say either ruin or a change must come. It is hard to see how a change can come. Day after day dawns and the same conditions remain. There was never such keenness, understanding and judgment among Christians in bodily and temporal things as now - I forbear to speak of the new inventions, printing, fire-arms, and other implements of war...This compels me to believe that Christ will soon come to judgment...it must soon break in upon them. Martin Luther, Sermon on Luke 21:25-36: The Signs of the Day of Judgment

• Worst and Best States for Unemployment
Thirteen states and Washington, D.C., now have unemployment rates higher than the national rate of 10.2 percent. The 10 states with the highest unemployment rates, by percentage, are: Michigan (15.1), Nevada (13.0), Rhode Island (12.9), California (12.5), South Carolina (12.1), South Carolina (12.1), Oregon (11.3), Florida (11.2), Illinois (11.0) and North Carolina (11.0). The 10 states with the lowest unemployment rate, by percentage, are: North Dakota (4.2), Nebraska (4.9), South Dakota (5.0), Montana (6.4), Vermont (6.5), Utah (6.5), Virginia (6.6), Iowa (6.7), New Hampshire (6.8) and Kansas (6.8). [ABCNews.go.com]

The average American eats 17.6 pounds of turkey per year, more than double the figure for 1970, according to the National Turkey Federation. To feed the growing appetite, some 273 million turkeys will be raised in the United States in 2009, and a good number of them will be consumed on Thanksgiving

“The pastor’s calling is not to entertain the goats but to feed the sheep.” (Raymond Barber)

He who works the oars seldom rocks the boat.

No one ever graduates from Bible Study until he meets the Author face to face. (Everett T Harris)

I exercise seven times a week. I tie my shoes every day.

My wife is broad-minded. She thinks there are two sides to every story -- her’s and her mother’s.

Here is a version of the 23rd Psalm that ought to be mandatory reading each day of Advent, and a unison reading each Advent Sunday.
The lord is my pace setter . . . I shall not rush
He makes me stop for quiet intervals
He provides me with images of stillness which restore my serenity
He leads me in the way of efficiency through calmness of mind and his guidance is peace
Even though I have a great many things to accomplish each day, I will not fret, for his presence is here
His timelessness, his all importance will keep me in balance
He prepares refreshment and renewal in the midst of my activity by anointing my mind with his oils of tranquility
My cup of joyous energy overflows
Truly harmony and effectiveness shall be the fruits of my hours for I shall walk in the Pace of my Lord and dwell in his house for ever. --A version of Psalm 23 from Japan, as reprinted in Mother Teresa,

Fellow Passengers to the Grave
"I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come around, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys..." Charles Dickens

In the Peanuts comic strip, Linus and Lucy are standing at the window looking out at the rain falling. Lucy says to Linus, "Boy, look at it rain...What if it floods the earth?" Linus, the resident biblical scholar for the Peanuts, answers, "It will never do that...in the ninth chapter of Genesis, God promised Noah that would never happen again, and the sign of the promise is the rainbow." With a smile on her face, Lucy replies, "Linus, you've taken a great load off my mind." To which Linus responds, "Sound theology has a way of doing that." Charles Schultz

Pastor James F. Kay puts it this way, "If the Gospel is good news, it is not because it predicts a bright, shiny future based on our morality or piety. The Gospel is neither a cocoon that insulates us from the sufferings of this present age nor a pair of ear plugs that shuts out the groaning of creation....The Gospel is Good News, not because it predicts a future based on our good behavior or other present trends; the Gospel is Good News because it promises a future based on God's faithfulness to Jesus Christ."

"No one gets an exemption from hardship on planet earth. How we receive it hinges on whether we believe in an alternate reality that transcends the one we know so well. The Bible never minimizes hardship or unfairness - witness books like Job, Psalms, and Lamentations. It simply asks us to withhold final judgment until all the evidence is in." - Phillip Yancey, Rumors of Another World (Zondervan, 2003)

Americans spend six hours a week doing various types of shopping, and they go to shopping centers on average once a week - more often than they go to church or synagogue. Some 93 percent of American teenage girls surveyed in 1987 deemed shopping their favorite pastime. The 32,563 shopping centers in the country surpassed high schools in number in 1987. Just from 1986 to 1989, total retail space in these centers grew by 65 million square meters, or 20 percent. Shopping centers now garner 55 percent of retail sales in the United States, compared with 16 percent in France and 4 percent in Spain.

When Everything Becomes "Merely"
Virginia Owens in her book, And The Trees Clap Their Hands, suggests that we lose the wonder of it all, because along the way everything becomes "merely." Things are "merely" stars, sunset, rain, flowers, and mountains. Their connection with God's creation is lost. During this Advent season many things are just "merely." It becomes "merely" Bethlehem, a stable, a birth -- we have no feeling of wonder or mystery. That is what familiarity can do to us over the years.
Owens goes on to say that it is this "merely" quality of things that leads to crime. It is "merely" a thing -- I'll take it. It is "merely" an object -- I'll destroy it. It is this "merely" quality of things and life that leads to war. We shall lose "merely" a few thousand men, but it will be worth it. Within the Advent narrative nothing is "merely." Things are not "merely" things, but are part of God's grand design. Common things, such as motherhood, a birth, a child, now have new meaning. This is not "merely" the world, but a world that is charged with the beauty and grandeur of God's design. It is a world so loved by God that God gave his only Son. What is so great about the Advent season is that everything appears charged with the beauty and grandeur of God. God's Downward Mobility, John A. Stroman

Exchanging Our Eschatological Heritage
Neill Hamilton, who taught at Drew University for many years, once observed how people in our time lose hope for the future. It happens whenever we let our culture call the shots on how the world is going to end. At this stage of technological advancement, the only way the culture can make sense of the future is through the picture of everything blowing up in a nuclear holocaust. The world cannot know what we know, that everything has changed in the death and resurrection of Jesus, that the same Christ is coming to judge the world and give birth to a new creation. And so, people lose hope. As Hamilton puts it: This substitution of an image of nuclear holocaust for the coming of Christ is a parable of what happens to Christians when they cease to believe in their own eschatological heritage. The culture supplies its own images for the end when we default by ceasing to believe in biblical images of God's triumph at the end.
The good news of the gospel is this: when all is said and done, God is going to win.

Second Coming and Faithfulness
During his 1960 presidential campaign, John F. Kennedy often closed his speeches with the story of Colonel Davenport, the Speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives: On May 19th, 1780 the sky of Hartford darkened ominously, and some of the representatives, glancing out the windows, feared the end was at hand. Quelling a clamor for immediate adjournment, Davenport rose and said, "The Day of Judgment is either approaching or it is not. If it is not, there is no cause for adjournment. If it is, I choose to be found doing my duty. Therefore, I wish that candles be brought." Rather than fearing what is to come, we are to be faithful till Christ returns. Instead of fearing the dark, we're to be lights as we watch and wait. Harry Heintz.

Princeton preacher James F. Kay puts it this way, “If the Gospel is good news, it is not because it predicts a bright, shiny future based on our morality or piety. The Gospel is neither a cocoon that insulates us from the sufferings of this present age nor a pair of ear plugs that shuts out the groaning of creation....The Gospel is Good News, not because it predicts a future based on our good behavior or other present trends; the Gospel is Good News because it promises a future based on God’s faithfulness to Jesus Christ.” (The Seasons of Grace, Eerdmann, 1995, p. 7). James F. Kay, quoted by William Willimon, “Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending”

Women will spend more than eight years of their lives shopping, says a study.
While keeping their families fed and clothed -and indulging in a little retail therapy - the average woman will shop for an astonishing 25,184 hours and 53 minutes over a period of 63 years.
If the average expedition lasted the length of a full working day - from 9am to 5pm - that would be 3,148 days trudging around the shops, or just over eight-and-a-half years.
The poll of 3,000 women, conducted by GE Money, revealed they make an average of 301 shopping trips per year, lasting a total of 399 hours and 46 minutes.
Food shopping can take more than an hour to complete each time. With an average of 84 trips to stock the pantry over a year, that is 94 hours and 55 minutes in the supermarket.
Women also dedicate 90 trips a year to keeping up their appearances - shopping for clothes 30 times, shoes 15 times, accessories 18 times and toiletries 27 times.
A total of 100 hours and 48 minutes is spent hunting for the latest clothing bargains and fashion statements. A further 40 hours and 30 minutes is spent shopping for footwear, and 29 hours and 31 minutes looking for accessories such as handbags, jewellery and scarves. Even shopping for more mundane items such as deodorant, shower gel and razors takes women around 17 hours and 33 minutes over one year. A further 19 trips, or 36 hours and 17 minutes, are used to buy gifts for friends and family.
The poll also showed women will go window shopping 51 times a year, spending 48 hours and 51 minutes just looking for their next purchase.

November 22

2009-12-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

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!

November 15

2009-11-15T15:50:00.000-08:00

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller

A teacher was finishing up a lesson on the joys of discovery and the importance of curiosity. "Where would we be today," she asked, "if no one had ever been curious?"
One child quietly spoke up from the back of the room. "In the garden of Eden?"

**Americans who attend church in one week: 102 million
**Americans who attend professional baseball, basketball, and football games in one year: 94 million -- Statistical Abstract of the United States, cited in Emerging Trends

Faith is believing that God is working on the problem even when we cannot see it.

Lord, help me to trust in you even when I cannot see your hand at work. Amen

Letter to send to people who won't hire you [Date Today]
Dear [Interviewer's Name]:
Thank you for your letter of April 17. After careful consideration I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me employment with your firm. This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.
Despite Acme Inc.'s outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet with my needs at this time. Therefore, I will initiate employment with your firm immediately following graduation. I look forward to seeing you then.
Best of luck in rejecting future candidates.
Sincerely, [Your Name]

The average Christian around the world gives 15 cents a week to foreign missions. The average Christian in Europe gives 25 cents, and the average believer in North America gives 50 cents - less than the cost of a cup of coffee. - Source: Missions Researcher Justin Long

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply, Speak kindly. Leave the rest to God...

The first lighthouse built in the USA was in Boston, MA in 1716.

The state of California has more 7-Eleven stores than any other state. There are approximately 1,200 stores.

ATTITUDE OF GRATITUDE
Feelings of gratitude release positive endorphins throughout the body, creating health.
Sharon Huffman

When we learn to give thanks, we are learning to concentrate not on the bad things, but on the good things in our lives.

How to install a security system;
1. Go to a second-hand store and buy a pair of men's used size 14- 16 work Boots.
2. Place them on your front porch, along with several empty beer cans, a Copy of Guns & Ammo magazine and several NRA magazines.
3. Put a few giant dog dishes next to the boots and magazine.
4. Leave a note on your door that reads: Hey Bubba, Big Jim, Duke and Slim, I went to the gun shop for more ammunition. Back in an hour. Don't mess with the pit bulls -- they attacked the mailman this morning and messed him up real bad. I don't think Killer took
part in it but it was hard to tell from all the blood.
PS - I locked all four of 'em in the house. Better wait outside.

www.joypastordon.blogspot.com/ JOY 10
If you're called upon to give advice, you should know that it is like snow: The softer it falls, the deeper it goes.

When a man doesn't care what people think of him, he has reached either the top or the bottom. Croft M. Pentz

The love of God, with arms extended on a cross, bars the way to hell. But if that love is ignored, rejected, and finally refused, there comes a time when love can only weep while man pushed past into the self-chosen alienation that Christ went to the cross to avert.
Michael Green

Through baptism we become part of a family much larger than our biological family. It is a family of people "set apart" by God to be light in the darkness. These set-apart people are called saints. Although we tend to think about saints as holy and pious, and picture them with halos above their heads and ecstatic gazes, true saints are much more accessible. They are men and women like us, who live ordinary lives and struggle with ordinary problems. What makes them saints is their clear and unwavering focus on God and God's people. Some of their lives may look quite different, but most of their lives are remarkably similar to our own.
The saints are our brothers and sisters, calling us to become like them.

I believe there is an old answer for every new problem, that wise whispers of the past are with us to assure us that if we just listen and remember, we are not alone; we have been here before. Victor Hanson

That some good can be derived from every event is a better proposition than that everything happens for the best, which it assuredly does not. James K. Feibleman

SIGNS YOU'RE OVERDOING THANKSGIVING........
* Hundreds of volunteers have started to stack sandbags around you.
* Doctor tells you your weight would be perfect for a man 17 feet tall.
*. You are responsible for a slight but measurable shift in the earth's axis.
* You spill more food on you than the local soup kitchen dispenses
* Paramedics bring in the Jaws of Life to pry you out of the EZ-Boy
* Your after dinner moans are loud enough to signal Dr. Kevorkian
* The "Gravy Boat" your wife set out was a real 12' jon boat!
* The potatoes you used set off another famine in Ireland
* Your "Big Elvis Super-Belt" won't even go around your waist
* You receive a Sumo Wrestler application in your e-mail
* You set off 3 earthquake seismographs on your morning jog Friday
* Pricking your finger for cholesterol screening only yielded gravy
* You have 5 TV sets side-by-side to catch all the football games
* That rash on your stomach turns out to be steering wheel burn
* Your wife wears a life jacket at night in your water bed
* Representatives from the Butterball Hall of Fame called twice
* You consider gluttony as your patriotic duty
* It looks like the left-overs are gonna last until Christmas
* Your arms are too short to reach the keyboard & delete this
* A guest quotes a Biblical passage from "The Feeding of the 5000"

"When you meet the devil, you know you are not going his way. If you never meet him, you must be going in the same direction." -Unknown

"Sometimes the most Godly thing we can do is take the day off." - Max Lucado

You Are a Kxy Person "For we are all members of one body."
Xvxn though this typxwritxr is an old modxl, it works vxry wxll, xxcxpt for onx kxy. You'd think that with all thx othhxr kxys working, onx kxy would hardly bx noticxd. But just onx kxy out of whack sxxms to ruin thx wholx xffort.
Havx you xvxr said to yoursxlf, "I'm only onx pxrson. No onx will noticx if I don't do my bxst."
But it doxs makx a diffxrxncx, bxcausx to bx xffxctivx, a family, an organization, a church or a businxss nxxds complxtx participation by evxryonx to thx bxst of his or hxr ability.
So if you'rx having onx of thosx days whxn you think you just arxn't vxry important, and you'rx txmptxd to slack off, rxmxmbxr this old typxwritxr. You arx a kxy pxrson, and whxn you don't do your bxst, nothing xlsx around you works out thx way it is supposxd to.2

"We are all missionaries. Wherever we go, we either bring people nearer to Christ, or we repel them from Christ." - Eric Liddell

An applicant was filling out a job application. When he came to the question, "Have you ever been arrested?" he wrote, "No."
The next question, intended for people who had answered in the affirmative to the previous question, was "Why?" The applicant answered it anyway: "Never got caught."

"The only fear I have is to fear to get out of the will of God. Outside of the will of God, there's nothing I want, and in the will of God there's nothing I fear." - A.W. Tozer

Are Christians Narrow-Minded Absolutists?
"Jesus answered, 'I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'"
"Believing in absolutes doesn't make one an absolutist," writes Chuck Colson in his news report "Jubilee" about a TV interview where the host accused him of being an absolutist.
Colson said, "When that TV host asked me why Christians always try to cram our views down people's throats, I was getting nowhere. Then I remembered he loved to sail.
"'Have you ever sailed at night, navigating by the stars?' I asked. 'Yes,' he replied.
"'Could you use those stars to navigate if they appeared in different, random positions every night?'
"'Of course not,' he said slowly.
"I think he got it. Christians are not intolerant absolutists. We just don't want our culture to be lost at sea, unaware of the stars above that could so quickly right our course."
Jesus not only stated emphatically that he was the only way to God the Father but also that, "Heaven can be entered only through the narrow gate! The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide enough for all the multitudes who choose its easy way. But the gateway to life is small, and the road is narrow, and only a few ever find it."3 We can call God an absolutist, too, if we so desire, but to ignore his way leads to our peril—and eternal damnation. God doesn't lead us to our peril.
Had there been any other way to Heaven Jesus would not have had to die on the cross to save us from our sins. Let us thank God that he provided the only way to God, Heaven, and eternal life.
Prayer: "Dear God, I thank you with all my heart that you provided the only way to make my peace with you through giving your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross to pay the price for the forgiveness of my sins and to give me the gift of eternal life. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, Amen."

"The church is a sunny place for shady people." - Oswald Hoffman

November 8

2009-11-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

The purpose of the church, financially, is not to accumulate as much money as possible but to give away as much as possible. -- Jerry Hayner

** If your family doesn't appreciate you, take heart. Jesus faced the same thing in his family. –Max Lucado

MONEY
It can buy you a House, But not a Home.
It can buy you a Bed, But not Sleep.
It can buy you a Clock, But not Time.
It can buy you a Book, But not Knowledge.
It can buy you a Position, But not Respect.
It can buy you Medicine, But not Health.
It can buy you Blood, But not Life.

How much is a billion?
What's the difference between a millionaire and a billionaire?

A million seconds is 13 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years!

A billion minutes ago was just after the time of Christ.

A billion dollars ago was yesterday at the U.S. Treasury.
According to statistics of Christian Churches today. The breakdown of giving looks like this:
20% of members Give 80% of all funds
30% of members Give the other 20%
50% of members Give nothing – ever!

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves. William J. H. Boetcker, 1942 Presbyterian minister

At the UPS cargo phone center where I worked, a woman called and said, "I need a baseball quote."
I immediately answered with Yogi Berra's famous "It ain't over 'til it's over!"
There was a brief moment of silence before the woman asked, "What was that?"
"You asked me for a baseball quote," I responded, "and that was the first thing that came into my head."
"Oh," she replied. "My husband told me to call and get a baseball quote."
I asked if she wanted to ship something, and she said she did.
Then it dawned on me: "Do you mean you want a ballpark figure?"

The Hokey Pokey -- Shakespearean Style!
O proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke.
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from heaven's yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke -- banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.

C.S. Lewis said it this way...
To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable,
because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

"The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet, it runs after me; it has hands, it lays hold of me." Martin Luther

If I make anything out of the fact that I am Thomas Merton, I am dead. And if you make anything out of the fact that you are in charge of the pig pen, you are dead. Quit keeping score altogether and surrender yourself with all your sinfulness to God who sees neither the score or the scorekeeper, but only his child redeemed by Christ. --Thomas Merton

If there is one truth you see on nearly every page of the Scriptures, it is this: God speaks to His people. From Adam in the Garden, to John on the island of Patmos, from Genesis to Revelation, God is speaking where His people can hear Him. Why is that so hard to believe? If you were going somewhere with a friend, would you expect him to walk silently beside you, never saying a word? So if you are walking with God, shouldn't you expect Him to want to share with you what is on His heart? --Henry Blackaby

"For effective communication, use brevity. Jesus said, 'Follow me.' Now that's brief! He could be brief because of all that he was that he didn't have to say." -- Jim Rohn

"If I must choose between righteousness and peace, I choose righteousness." -- Teddy Roosevelt

"There is one thing that we all have in common. That is...at some point in our life, we will face adversity. It's not a matter of if but ... when." -- Mac Anderson

"Just as iron rusts from disuse, even so does inaction spoil the intellect." -- Leonardo da Vinci, Artist

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Gandhi

"If I can stop one heart from breaking, I shall not live in vain." -- Emily Dickinson

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A man was driving when a traffic camera flashed. He thought his picture was taken for exceeding the speed limit, even though he knew he was not speeding. Just to be sure, he went around the block and passed the same spot, driving even more slowly, but again the camera flashed. He thought this was quite funny, so he slowed down even further as he drove past the area, but the traffic camera flashed yet again.
He tried a fourth time with the same result. The fifth time he was laughing when the camera flashed as he rolled past at a snail's pace.
Two weeks later, he got five traffic fine letters in the mail for driving without a seat belt.

A priest once asked one of his parishioners to serve as financial chairman of his parish. The man, manager of a grain elevator, agreed on two conditions: no report would be due for a year, and no one would ask any questions during the year. At the end of the year he made his report. He had paid off the church debt of $200,000. He had redecorated the church. He had sent money to missions. He had $5,000 in the bank. Needless to say, everyone wanted to know how. The man quietly explained, "You people bring your grain to my elevator. As you did business with me, I simply withheld 10 percent and gave it to the church. You never missed it."

The Widow's Mite for $39.95
An advertisement I ran across read: "Now you too can own a Genuine Coin From The Time of Jesus: The Widow's Mite. It's a minor miracle that this coin has survived and now people of faith can study, cherish, and protect it for future generations. It's yet another miracle that they're so affordable."
Then, the ad goes on to quote the Scripture we just heard, "While our limited supplies last, you may order the 2,000 year old Widow's Mite for only $39.95 plus shipping and handling. Remember this is the genuine coin mentioned in the Holy Bible and it makes a perfect gift for your child, grandchild, or favorite clergyman."
The advertisement makes it sound like your buying the actual coin the widow dropped into the receptacle. Of course, you are not. It doesn't exist. Harder still is to purchase the woman's attitude of generosity, which is of greater value in today's market.

"Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body." -- Joseph Addison

"Your living is determined not so much by what life brings you as by the attitude you bring to life; not so much by what happens to you as by the way your mind looks at what happens." -- Lewis L. Dunnington

At age 16 Confucius was a corn inspector.

"If you want to know how to live your life, think about what you want people to say about you after you die--and live backward." -- Author Unknown

"Our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become." -- Unknown

Forty six percent of the world's water is in the Pacific Ocean. The Atlantic has 23.9 percent; the Indian, 20.3; the Arctic, 3.7 percent.

As Gandhi stepped aboard a train one day, one of his shoes slipped off and landed on the track. He was unable to retrieve it as the train was moving. To the amazement of his companions, Gandhi calmly took off his other shoe and threw it back along the track to land close to the first. Asked by a fellow passenger why he did so, Gandhi smiled. "The poor man who finds the shoes lying on the track," he replied, "will now have a pair he can use."

(Paul Harvey, Nov. 1995): The Butterball Turkey company set up a hotline to answer consumer questions about preparing holiday turkeys. One woman called to inquire about cooking a turkey that had been in her freezer for 23 years.
The operator told her it might be safe if the freezer had been kept below 0 degrees the entire time. But the operator warned the woman that, even if it were safe, the flavor had probably deteriorated, and she wouldn’t recommend eating it.
The caller replied, “That’s what we thought. We’ll just give it to the church.”
APPLY: Why does that strike us as funny? She was consecrating that Turkey to God, wasn’t she? What she was offering was still good – wasn’t it??? BUT tho’ it may have been “consecrated”… though it still was “good,” it wasn’t going to taste good or smell good.

Vince Lombardi believed that mental attitude accounted for 75 percent of the ingredients of winning. Everyone wants to win, but most people don't believe they can, and therefore give up before they have tried. The more you believe you can win, the harder you will work. The harder you work, the more you will believe you can win, and the longer you will persist until you succeed.

According to a recent report, charitable giving in America has increased less than one percent over the past few years. During the same time span, however, debt payments have risen 550 percent, while our entertainment spending is up 123 percent. Not surprisingly, the average consumer in this country spends $1.05 to $1.10 for every dollar of income. The figures are startling, even for a society where millions of people live in various degrees of financial debt."
Giving is an attitude. It is a way of life. Some people are givers—others takers—and some are keepers. Whether we give of our money, time, talents, or love, as Jesus reminds us, "Give and it will be given to you." And I think I could safely say, "Take and the most valuable things of life will be taken from you."
Prayer, "Dear God, please help me to be a giver, first to you and then to others—and never just a taker or a keeper. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

Every worthwhile accomplishment, big or little, has its stages of drudgery and triumph; a beginning, a struggle and a victory. --Mahatma Gandhi

The Paradox of Our Time in History is that
We spend more, but have less; we buy more, but enjoy it less.
We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; more medicine, but less wellness.
We read too little, watch TV too much and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values.
These are the times of tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes.
We've learned how to make a living, but not a life; we've added years to life, not life to years; we've cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
We have taller buildings, but shorter tempers, wider freeways but narrower viewpoints.
We have more college degrees but less sense, more knowledge but less judgment. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life, but not life to years. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We build more computers to hold more information that we print on more paper than every before, but we communicate less. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion, tall people and short character, steep profits but shallow relationships. You get the idea.

"Push on, friend. You're just one exciting step from the banquet hall of life." -- Zig Ziglar

"If you don't like how things are, change it! You're not a tree." -- Jim Rohn

"Decide today to be a master of change rather than a victim of change." -- Brian Tracy

November 1

2009-11-15T15:46:00.000-08:00

"When men believe God, they speak boldly. When they doubt, they confer." -- A.W. Tozer

"Worry doesn't help tomorrow's troubles, but it does ruin today's happiness." -- Unknown.

A bishop of Sweden once said… “Saints are those who make it easier for us to believe in God."
Robert Louis Stevenson said.. "Saints are sinners who keep on going."

A saint is one who is faithful in all circumstances, one whose identity is not shaken by the daily circumstances, the ups and downs of life.

"And There will be Three"
The newly wed wife said to her husband when he returned from work: "I have great news for you. Pretty soon we're going to be three in this house instead of two."
The husband started glowing with happiness and kissing his wife said: "Oh darling, I'm the happiest man in the world."
But then she said: "I'm glad that you feel that way because tomorrow morning my mother
moves in with us."

"Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image." - A.W. Tozer

The average ear of corn has eight-hundred kernels arranged in sixteen rows.

It runs more pages than War and Peace, has nearly five times as many words as the Torah, and its tables of contents alone run far longer than this story. The House health care bill unveiled Thursday clocks in at 1,990 pages and about 400,000 words. With an estimated 10-year cost of $894 billion, that comes out to about $2.24 million per word. .

"Pray For Me" One Sunday in church, a young child was "acting up" during the morning worship hour. The parents did their best to maintain some sense of order in the pew but were losing the battle. Finally, the father picked the little fellow up and walked sternly up the aisle on his way out. Just before reaching the safety of the foyer, the little one called loudly to the congregation, "Pray for me! Pray for me!"

It doesn't do much good to put your best foot forward if you are dragging the other one.

"Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them." - John Maxwell

The "But first... Syndrome" (Author Unknown)
The scientific world is frantically searching for a cure. There is an ailment many of us suffer from and many have not, as yet, been diagnosed. However, now you may be able to discuss it with your loved ones and try to explain what really happened to you all those times you tried so hard to accomplish something and didn't.
It's called the "But first...Syndrome." It's like when I decide to do the laundry. I start down the hall and notice the newspaper on the table. Okay, I'm going to do the laundry - But first I'm going to read the newspaper. After that, I notice the mail on the table. Okay, I'll just put the newspaper in the recycle stack, But first I'll look through that pile of mail and see if there are any bills to be paid. Now where's the checkbook?
Oops! There's the empty glass from yesterday on the coffee table. I'm going to look for that checkbook, But first I need to put the glass in the sink.
I head for the kitchen, look out the window, notice my poor flowers need a drink of water. I put the glass in the sink, and darn it, there's the remote for the TV on the kitchen counter. What's it doing here? I'll just put it away, But first I need to water those plants.
Head for door and Ack! I stepped on the dog. The dog needs to be fed. Okay, I'll put that remote away and water the plants. But first I need to feed the dog.
At the end of day: Laundry is not done, Newspapers are still on the floor, Glass is still in the sink, Bills are unpaid, Checkbook is still missing, The dog ate the remote control. AND, when I try to figure out how come nothing got done all day, I'm baffled, because I KNOW I was BUSY ALL DAY!
I realize this condition is serious....and I should get help, But first I think I'll read all my e-mail.

Wouldn't the world be different if we treated the Bible the way we treat our cell phones:
. What if we carried it around in our purses or pockets?
. What if we turned back to go get it if we forgot it?
. What if we flipped through it several times a day?
. What if we used it to receive messages?
. What if we treated it like we couldn't live without it?
. What if we gave it to kids as gifts?
. What if we used it as we traveled?
. What if we used it in case of an emergency?
. What if we upgraded it to get the latest version?
This is something to make you go...hmmm...where is my Bible?
Oh, and one more thing. Unlike our cell phones, we don't ever have to worry about our bible being disconnected because Jesus already paid the bill!

Computer Terms, Defined by Rednecks:
Hard Drive: Getting home in mud season.
Mouse: What eats the horses' grain in the barn.
BAR CODE: Them's the fight'n rules down at the local tavern
SUPERCONDUCTOR: Amtrak's Employee of the year
CHIP: Pasture muffins that you try not to step in
Infrared: Where the leftovers go when Fred's around.
KEYBOARD: Where you hang the keys to the John Deere
MODEM: What ya did when the grass and weeds got too tall
HARDCOPY: Picture looked at when selecting tattoos
MEGAHERTZ: How your head feels after 17 beers

What Retirees Do
Working people frequently ask retired people what they do to make their days interesting. Well for example, the other day my wife and I went into town and went into a shop. We were only in there for about 5 minutes. When we came out, there was a cop writing out a parking ticket. We went up to him and said, "Come on man, how about giving a senior citizen a break?" He ignored us and continued writing the ticket. I called him a looser. He glared at me and started writing another ticket for having worn tires. So my wife called him a Nazi. He finished the second ticket and put it on the windshield with the first. Then he started writing a third ticket. This went on for about 20 minutes. The more we abused him, the more tickets he wrote. Personally, we didn't care, our car was parked around the corner. And the car he was writing up had a "HILLARY IN 2008" on it. We try to have a little fun each day now that we are retired. It's important at our age.

Encouragement
"Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."1
Even if you are aware of why geese fly in ">" formation, it is a good reminder for us humans. As each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird immediately following. By doing this, the whole flock adds at least 71 percent greater flying range than if each bird flew on its own.
When a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone—and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird in front.
When the head goose gets tired, it rotates back and another goose flies point. Also, the following geese honk from behind to encourage those up front to keep on keeping on and to keep up their speed.
Also, when a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshot, and falls out of formation, two other geese fall out with that goose and follow it down to lend help and protection. They stay with the fallen goose until it is able to fly or until it dies, and only then do they launch out on their own, or with another formation to catch up with their group.
We would do well to follow the example of the geese.
Prayer: "Dear God, please help me to be a good team member to lead when it is my turn, and to be a good follower and encourager when another is taking the lead. Thank you for hearing and answering my prayer. Gratefully, in Jesus' name, amen."

Life Sayings from Country Folks
- Life is not about how fast you run, or how high you climb, but how well you bounce.
- Don't skinny dip with snapping turtles.
- Words that soak into your ears are whispered, not yelled.
- Forgive your enemies. It messes with their heads.
- You can catch more flies with honey than vinegar, assuming you want to catch flies.
- Man is the only critter who feels the need to label things as flowers or weeds.
- It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.
- You can't unsay a cruel thing.
- When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

Translations of Help Wanted Ads
Energetic self-starter: You'll be working on commission.
Entry level position: We will pay you the lowest wages allowed by law.
Experience required: We do not know the first thing about any of this.
Fast learner: You will get no training from us.
Flexible work hours: You will frequently work long overtime hours.
Good organizational skills: You'll be handling the filing.
Make an investment in you future: This is a franchise or a pyramid scheme.
Management training position: You'll be a salesperson with a wide territory.
Much client contact: You handle the phone or make "cold calls" on clients.
Must have reliable transportation: You will be required to break speed limits.
Must be able to lift 50 pounds: We offer no health insurance or chiropractors.
Opportunity of a lifetime: You will not find a lower salary for so much work.
Planning and coordination: You book the bosses travel arrangements.
Quick problem solver: You will work on projects months behind schedule already.
Strong communication skills: You will write tons of documentation and letters.

USING THE RIGHT WORDS
Mark Twain once said that the difference between the right word and the nearly right word is the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. In other words, it's huge. What we say and don't say ... matters. Words have the power to heal and to hurt. They have the ability to win people over or wound them for years to come. It's very important that we choose our words wisely. ... God can help us with that if we ask Him. --John Hull and Tim Elmore

Thought for Today "Much of our difficulty as seeking Christians stems from our unwillingness to take God as He is and adjust our lives accordingly. We insist upon trying to modify Him and to bring Him nearer to our own image." - A.W. Tozer

Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people." Theodore Roosevelt 1907

- The marvels of today's modern technology include the soda can, which when discarded, will last forever and a $20,000 car, which when properly cared for will rust out in two or three years.
- I'm not bossy, I just know what you should be doing.
- Many a good man has failed because he had his wishbone where his backbone should have been.
- Laughter is an instant vacation.
- You can lead a man to Congress, but you can't make him think.
- Get the facts first. You can distort them later.
- He's the kind of man you would use as a blueprint to build an idiot.
- Money doesn't bring you happiness, but it enables you to look for it in more places.
- Misers aren't much fun to live with, but they make great ancestors.
- Be careful what rut you choose. You may be in it the rest of your life.
- A closed mouth gathers no feet.
- Money isn't everything....there's credit cards, money orders, and travelers checks.

Sign at animal shelter: Children left unattended will be given a puppy or a kitten.

October 25

2009-11-15T15:44:00.000-08:00

Today we celebrate Reformation Sunday. We remember the past as we come into a new day. And through God’s continuous reforming love, we can prepare to find a new way for our lives. Reformation is a time to cause us to stop, think about life and why we are here. To think about yesterday and prepare for tomorrow with the Word of God as our guide. It is a time to renew old vows and make new ones. It is a time to replenish hope, deepen faith, and know the forgiveness of God. We are His Church--we gather to praise Him. Let us hold each other in the fellowship of the Holy Spirit as we shout aloud our praise to God!
What sets this day apart are not the events of 500 years ago. The Reformation is not merely a past event but an ongoing movement. In every generation, no less our own, God calls His people to renewal. Today we give thanks for a Reformation heritage. We remember that a heritage is no substitute for the ongoing work of reformation and renewal in our own time. We continue in Christ's gift of freedom only as long as we continue faithful in His Word.

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?

Do not look forward to what may happen tomorrow. The same everlasting Father who cares for you today will take care of you tomorrow, and every day. Either he will shield you from suffering, or he will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace, then. Put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginations. --Francis of Sales

“The most used of God are the most broken.” (Jack Hyles)

Safety is not found in the absence of danger but in the presence of God.

Work with the construction gang, not the wrecking crew.
It's said that Robert (Bobbie) Knight, fabled for his temper on the basketball sidelines as a coach, had turned his thoughts to his future after his last firing, and was contemplating more than just basketball. So he called his church pastor one day and asked him, "Reverend, will I be able to coach basketball in Heaven?"
His pastor, not wanting to give a glib answer, asked for a few days to pray and meditate upon the issue.
About a week later, he returned Bob Knight's call and asked him to come in and meet with him in his study.
"Well, Bob," says the pastor, as the two sit down together, "there's good news and there's bad news. The good news is that yes, you'll be able to coach basketball in Heaven."
"Great!" exclaims Bob. "What's the bad news?"
"Unless you get a handle on that temper of yours, you'll be coaching for the visiting team."

John Newton is remembered for his hymn, “Amazing Grace.” in his later years, he often lost his memory in the pulpit and had to be reminded of the subject about which he had been preaching. He said, “My memory is nearly gone; but It remember two things: that I am a great sinner and that Jesus is a great Savior.” (Victory Baptist Press)

"God is testing us now that He may shake out of us the things that are transient and temporal, and that we may be established in the things which cannot be shaken and which shall remain...Christ the Author and Finisher of our faith is searching and proving our faith, and bringing to light every weakness and defect so that we may be established and settled and prepared for the testing day!" - A. B. Simpson

We are not human beings going through a temporary spiritual experience.
We are spiritual beings going through a temporary human experience.

"Jesus gives us real eyes so we can realize where the real lies." - Michael McInerny

Youth is not entirely a time of life;
it is a state of mind.
Nobody grows old by merely living a number of years.
People grow old by deserting their ideals.
You are as young as your faith,
as old as your doubts;
as young as your self-confidence,
as old as your fear;
as young as your hope,
as old as your despair.
---General Douglas MacArthur

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?

NIPPING NEGATIVE REACTIONS
Have you noticed how easy it is to react in a negative manner when something negative happens in your life? Doubt may creep into your thoughts and cause you to question God and His Word. Proverbs 17:22 (NIV) says "A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones."
Samuel Hearne was an adventurer who took an expedition to the mouth of the Copper- mine River. He recorded that a few days after the journey was started, Indians stole most of the expedition's supplies. What was the explorer's comment on the theft? Surely he must have been upset and distressed about so great a loss. Not so! The optimistic Hearne wrote:
"The weight of our baggage being so much lightened, our next day's journey was more swift and pleasant."
Remember, negative reactions only make a bad situation worse. Choose to look for the bright side of problems this week. Keep tabs on the results of your optimistic outlook.
You might also want to keep a record of how your perspective is changed.

"Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm." -- Winston Churchill

A young bride was scouring the aisles of the supermarket. Up and down each aisle she went, then started over again. The store manager noticed this and went over to her.
"Can I help you find something, miss?" he asked.
"I's Mrs.!", she said proudly, "I just got married."
"Congratulations, " said the manager. "What can I help you find?"
"Scratch," she replied.
"Scratch?" he asked, "Is that a new cleanser or something?"
"No silly," she replied brightly. "My husband told me that his mother made everything from scratch, so I need to find some!"

"By sacrificing his body, Jesus created a new form of community - the Body of Christ around the world. There are people like my friends, stories like our stories, everywhere he is believed and obeyed. His sacrifice reconnects us to reality, to truth, to who God is, to a clear vision of who we are without him and who we are with him." - Kelly Monroe Kullberg, Finding God Beyond Harvard (InterVarsity, 2006)

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

Three paramedics were boasting about improvements in their respective ambulance team's response times.
"Since we installed our new satellite navigation system," bragged the first one, "we cut our emergency response time by ten percent."
The other paramedics nodded in approval. "Not bad," the second paramedic commented. "But by using a computer model of traffic patterns, we've cut our average response time by 20 percent."
Again, the other team members gave their congratulations, until the third paramedic said, "That's nothing! Since our ambulance driver passed the bar exam, we've cut our emergency response time in half!"

"If God never became flesh, he could neither redeem us nor reveal to us his promise of eternal life. It is only by becoming like us that God can make us like him, restoring us in his image." - St. Irenaeus, 444 Surprising Quotes about Jesus (Bethany House, 2006)

"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

"People don't ask for facts in making up their minds. They would rather have one good, soul-satisfying emotion than a dozen facts." --Robert Keith Leavitt

The church should be a community of dates instead of pumpkins. Pumpkins you can harvest in six months. Dates have to be planted and tended by people who will not live to harvest them. Dates are for future generations. -- George Chauncey

If we can convince people that we are onto something that's full of joy, they'll stampede one another to follow us. -- William Treadwell

October 18

2009-11-15T15:42:00.000-08:00

All-in-one online Bible http://ntgateway.com/multibib/bible.htm - On this site, you can search the Bible through a variety of online Bible programs and translations - all on one page.

Bernie says to his friend, "My Sadie and I, we are always holding hands."
"Why do you do this?" asks his friend.
"Because if I let go, she shops."

"Whether you believe you can do a thing or not, you are right." -- Henry Ford

"Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of." -- Unknown

"You'll always miss 100% of the shots you don't take." -- Wayne Gretzky,

"My father taught me to always do more than you get paid for as an investment in your future." -- Jim Rohn

According to a study released last week by the Pew Research Center®, the global Muslim population now stands at 1.57 billion, which is almost 25 percent of the world's population. Islam, which is practiced in 232 countries and territories, is the world's second largest religion behind Christianity, which has between 2.1 and 2.2 billion followers. The report also revealed that roughly 2.3 million Muslims live in the United States making up 0.8 percent of the population.
Sixty-five percent of Americans who claim a religious affiliation take a non-exclusivist view of salvation, saying that many religions can lead to eternal life. Less than one-quarter say theirs is the one true faith leading to eternal life. Fifty-two percent of American Christians believe that some non-Christian faiths can lead to eternal life. The number of religiously-affiliated Americans saying that only their own faith can lead to eternal life increased slightly between 2007 and 2008, from 24 percent to 29 percent. The increase is especially pronounced among white evangelical Protestants (37% to 49%) and black Protestants (35% to 45%).

"Your success in your career will be in direct proportion to what you do after you've done what you are expected to do." -- Brian Tracy

"Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door."

Australian statistics show that four-month-old infants watch an average of 44 minutes of television each day. The guidelines warn that exposure to television at such an early age can delay language development, affect the ability of a child to concentrate and lead to obesity. They recommend that children under two should be banned from watching television. The recommendations also suggest that children aged two to five should watch no more than one hour of television a day.

Although Christmas spending is forecasted to be down from a year ago, results from a recent Gallup poll say that if the numbers hold, it could mean better holiday retail sales. The poll for 2009 Christmas spending intentions finds Americans, on average, planning to spend $740 on gifts this year — down somewhat from the $801 recorded at this time a year ago — but higher than the $639 prediction Americans gave two months later in the economically troubled 2008 holiday season. [Gallup.com]

On average, 150 couples get married in Las Vegas each day.

Bananas contain a natural chemical which can make a person happy. This same chemical is found in Prozac.

The right lung of a human is larger than the left one. This is because of the space and placement of the heart.

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.
When we think of Church we have to think of a body of people, travelling 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.

"It's the little things that bother us and put us on the rack, you can sit upon a mountain but you can't sit on a tack!"

"Your success in your career will be in direct proportion to what you do after you've done what you are expected to do." -- Brian Tracy

"Don't spend time beating on a wall, hoping to transform it into a door."

"Nice guys finish best!" -- Denis Waitley

"The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel." -- Thomas Watson

"There are no great victories at discount prices." --Dwight Eisenhower

"If you wouldn't write it and sign it, don't say it."-- Earl Wilson

"It's easy to identify people who can't count to ten. They are in front of you in the express lane at the supermarket." -- June Henderson

"Late night TV is very educational. It teaches you that you should have gone to bed earlier." -- James Dent

A new bride went crying to her mother.
"Momma, I can't get Neil to do anything. I want him to fix up the house, and he keeps putting it off."
"Honey," her mother replied, "after being married to your father for six years, I've found the only way to get him to do anything is to tell him he's too old."

What happens to you is not nearly as important (in your eyes) as how you perceive what happens to you. -- Kent Crockett,

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had once failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich--a great equalizer. The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism.
All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A. After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy. But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little.. The second test average was a D! No one was happy. When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F.
The scores never increased as bickering, blame, and name calling all resulted in hard feelings, and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else. All failed. To their great surprise, the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.
Could not be any simpler than that.

Notice It
Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams. Ashley Smith Robinson

The Best and Worst of Times
In addition to getting a good night of sleep, spending time with friends (mentioned by 55%) and listening to music (54%), were the only other activities that enthused a majority of adults from among the 17 possibilities that were offered to survey respondents.
The least appealing activities, besides completing tax forms, included having a physical examination by a doctor (14%) and going shopping for clothing (16%).
The ranking of the items examined might surprise people. For instance, the fourth most appealing activity was attending church services, which 40% said they look forward to. In fact, further confirming that religion is “hot” right now, Americans were more likely to say they look forward to reading the Bible (31%) than to look forward to reading a novel for pleasure (25%). And the fact that shopping for clothing was ranked by women fifteenth out of the 17 options conflicts with the venerable stereotype.
The attraction of the media was also evident. Two out of every three adults (68%) said that they look forward to watching TV, listening to music, or seeing a movie. This was especially common among young adults: three-quarters of those 18 to 22-years-old (76%) mentioned at least one of those options as compelling. Overall, one out of every ten adults listed all three media as things they looked forward to a lot.

October 11

2009-11-15T15:41:00.000-08:00

On average, a U.S. citizen causes over 100 times more damage to the global environment than a person in a poor country. The average North American consumes five times more than a Mexican, 10 times more than a Chinese person and 30 times more than a person in India. The richest 25 percent of the world's population use 86 percent of all forest products, 75 percent of energy, 72 percent of steel production. The poorest use only two percent of the world's resources.

The Freedom to Sing
The French have a story about a millionaire in his palace who spent his days counting his gold. Beside the palace was a poor cobbler who spent his days singing as he repaired people's shoes. The joyful singing irritated the rich man. One day he decided to give some gold coins to the cobbler. At first the cobbler was overjoyed, and he took the coins and hid them. But then he would be worried and go back to check if the coins were still there. Then he would be worried in case someone had seen him, and he would move the coins and hide them in another place. During all this, he ceased to sing. Then one day he realized that he had ceased to sing because of the gold coins. He took them back to the rich man and said, "take back your coins and give me back my songs."

The minister of a well-attended, strong, and enthusiastic church often showed himself ready and able to deal with any situation that might come up. One Sunday, just as he was reaching the climax of his message, his own young grandson entered the church, ran to
the center aisle, started making loud beeps and vrrrmms like a car without a muffler, then zoomed right toward him. The minister stopped his message, pointed severely at his grandson, and commanded, "Jack, park the car immediately beside your mother on that
chair (pointing), turn off the ignition, and hand her the keys." The message continued undisturbed ... after a good laugh by the congregation.

How big is the internet? An interesting tidbit in an column on the difficulty of tracing terrorists' online activity: The National Security Agency, one of 16 intelligence agencies, estimates by next year, the Internet will carry 647 petabytes of data each day. "That's 647 followed by 15 zeros," "and by way of comparison, the holdings of the entire Library of Congress (130 million items, including 30 million books that occupy 530 miles of book shelves) represent only 0.02 petabytes."

An American couple visiting a German village stepped into a small shop to look for souvenirs. The woman sneezed. "Gezundheit!" said the clerk "Charles," said the American woman to her husband, "we're in luck. There's somebody here who speaks English."

The Purpose of Coffee Hour - Coffee was always served at our church after the sermon. One Sunday our minister asked one of the smaller members of the congregation if he knew why we had coffee hour. Without hesitating, the youngster replied, "To wake people up before they have to drive home."

"I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure--try to please everybody." -- Herbert Bayard Swope

You are here to make a difference by serving God and others. Whenever you serve others, in any way, you are actually serving God and fulfilling one of his purposes for creating you. We weren't placed on earth just to breathe, eat, take up space and have fun. God fashioned each of us to make a unique contribution with our lives. Rick Warren

"... Sometimes, faith helps ordinary men and women do the humanly impossible: to forgive, to love, to heal, and to redeem. It makes no sense. It is the most sensible thing in the world. The Amish have turned this occasion of spectacular evil into a bright witness to hope. Despite everything, a light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it."
- Rod Dreher, Dallas Morning News, writing about last week's Amish school shooting

Fifty-two percent of polled Americans admitted that they "re-gift" presents or say they will do so in the future. Four percent of those polled say they do this because they don't like the person they are giving the gift to. - Source: TIME magazine (Oct. 16, 2006)

"We think if we can disperse adequate information, people will be convinced that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life, and turn to him. Those methods don't work any longer. I'm not sure they ever did. People aren't looking for information about God. They want to experience God, himself. Information leaves them bored, uninterested. Experience, especially the ultimate experience any human being can ever have, leaves them breathless.
And that's exactly what we have to offer." - Mark Tabb, Mission to Oz

Morris goes to his rabbi for some needed advice.
"Rabbi, tell me if it is proper for one man to profit from another man's mistakes."
"No, Morris, a man should not profit from another man's mistakes," answered the rabbi.
"Are you sure, Rabbi?"
"Of course, I'm sure. In fact, I'm positive," exclaimed the Rabbi.
"Ok, Rabbi, if you are so sure..... how about returning the two hundred dollars I gave you for marrying me to my wife!"

"I noticed you always carry my photo in your handbag. Why?" a husband asked his wife.
"When there is a problem, no matter how impossible, I look at your picture and the problem always disappears," she said. The man smiled. "You see how good I am for you?" he asked. "Yes," she said. "I see your picture and say to myself, 'What other problem can there be that is worse than this one?'"

October 4

2009-11-15T15:39:00.000-08:00

A 2006 Yahoo online poll reported that the average U.S. family owns 12 tech devices, including three TVs, two computers, and seven other gadgets such as MP3 players, video game consoles and mobile phones. Poll respondents said their overlapping use of all these devices adds up to about 43 hours during each 24-hour day.

It's funny: Our techno-gadgetry allows us to stay in contact with so many different friends that we're often guilty of ignoring the people in the room with us in favor of those we're talking to online or on the cell phone.

Some random thoughts in relation to managing life and God’s creation:
* We humans own nothing—neither the land we stand on nor the body we live in; see Luke
12:13-21.
* The First Article of the Apostles’ Creed should read, “...Maker and Owner of heaven and
earth.”
* In relation to the stewardship of money, the goal must not be to encourage people to give
more. It must be to inspire people to manage better and rob less.
* We must get people to think beyond “tithing”–an OT concept referred to in Malachi 3:8-
13. The issue is not persuading people to give ten percent–and then keep the rest for
themselves! No one owns anything–and God owns everything.
* According to Jesus, being “blessed” has nothing to do with possessions or status; it has to
do with devoting life to serving Jesus in all His “distressing disguises” (Mother Theresa’s
term). Here, ponder Matthew 25:31-46.
* God has provided abundantly–but humanity has not shared compassionately.
* “One never sees a U-Haul attached to a hearse!”

The total area of Denver International Airport is 53 square miles, twice the size of Manhattan Island, New York, and larger than the city boundary of Boston, Miami or San Francisco.

The fastest moon in our solar system circles Jupiter once every seven hours - traveling at 70,400 miles per hour.

A United States Marine was attending some college courses between assignments. He had completed missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. One of the courses had a professor who was an avowed atheist, and a member of the ACLU.
One day the professor shocked the class when he came in. He looked to the ceiling and flatly stated, 'God if you are real then I want you to knock me off this platform. I'll give you exactly 15 min.' The lecture room fell silent. You could hear a pin drop. Ten minutes went by and the professor proclaimed, 'Here I am GOD, I'm still waiting.'
It got down to the last couple of minutes when the Marine got out of his chair, went up to the professor, and cold-cocked him, knocking him off the platform. The professor was out cold. The Marine went back to his seat and sat there, silently.
The other students were shocked and stunned, and sat there looking on in silence. The professor eventually came to, noticeably shaken, looked at the Marine and asked, 'What in the world is the matter with you? 'Why did you do that?'
The Marine calmly replied, 'GOD was too busy today protecting America 's soldiers, who are protecting your right to say stupid stuff and act like an idiot. So he sent me.'
The classroom erupted in cheers!

According to a press release from the Bible Literacy Project, more than 350 public schools in 43 states will be using their textbook, "The Bible and Its Influence," as the new school year begins. In Texas alone, over 50 public schools will be teaching the course.
Another textbook, "The Bible in History and Literature," published by the National Council on Bible Curriculum in Public Schools, is being used in 508 school districts (2,015 high schools) in 38 states.

Snickers is the most popular candy.
The man who invented shorthand, John Gregg, was deaf.
There are five tillion trillion atoms in one pound of iron.

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.
......Abraham Lincoln

- I hope the next time I move I get a real easy phone number, something like two two two two two two two. And then when people would say, "Mitch, how do I get a hold of you?" I'd say, "Just press two for awhile, and when I answer, you'll know you've pressed two enough."
- When you buy a box of Ritz crackers, on the back of the box they have all these suggestions as to what to put on top of the Ritz. "Try it with turkey and cheese. Try it with peanut butter." But I like crackers, that's why I bought it. I like crackers! I don't see a suggestion to put a Ritz on top of a Ritz. I didn't buy them because they're little edible plates. They've got no faith in their own product.
- I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long.
- I like vending machines 'cause snacks are better when they fall. If I buy a candy bar at the store, oftentimes I will drop it, to help it achieve its full flavor potential.
- By the way, you don't have to be sweaty and holding a basketball to enjoy Gatorade. You could just be a thirsty dude! Gatorade forgets about this demographic.
- My fake plants died because I did not pretend to water them.
- I don't have a microwave oven, but I do have a clock that occasionally cooks stuff.
- I didn't go to college, but if I did, I would have taken all my tests at restaurants, because "the customer is always right."
- I've got an oscillating fan at my house. The fan goes back and forth. It looks like the fan is saying "no." So I like to ask it questions that a fan would say "no" to. "Do you keep my hair in place?" "Do you keep my documents in order?"
- I just bought a two-bedroom house, but don't we get to decide how many bedrooms it has? This bedroom has an oven in it. This bedroom has lots of people sitting around watching a TV.
- I had a parrot. The parrot talked, but it did not say "I am hungry," so it died.
- I went to a pizzeria and ordered a slice of pizza. They gave me the smallest slice possible. If the pizza was a pie chart for what people would do if they won a million dollars, I was given the "donate it to charity" slice. "Excuse me, I would like to exchange this for the 'Keep It!' slice."
- You know, I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask where they're going and hook up with them later.

The detective was interviewing the man whose clothing shop had just been burglarized.
"It's bad," said the proprietor, "but it's not as bad as it could have been if he'd robbed me yesterday."
"Why is that?" the detective asked. "Because today everything was on sale."
~

Being a Christian is like being a pumpkin. God lifts you up, takes you in, and washes all the dirt off of you. He opens you up, touches you deep inside and scoops out all the yucky stuff-- including the seeds of doubt, hate, greed, etc. Then He carves you a new smiling face and puts His light inside you to shine for all the world to see.

It was Jimmy's first day of kindergarten and the teacher was starting the class off by teaching her students about the Pledge of Allegiance. She instructed everyone to stand and place their hands over their hearts, and repeat after her.
Halfway through, however, she stopped as she noticed that Jimmy did not have his hand over his heart.
It was on the right cheek of his fanny.
"Jimmy," she scolds, "I will not continue until you put your hand over your heart."
"But it *is* over my heart," Jimmy protests.
Several futile attempts to persuade Jimmy to move his hand later, the teacher finally sighs and asks, "Why do you think that's where your heart is?"
"Because," Jimmy replies, "every time my Gramma comes to visit, she picks me up, pats me right here, and says, 'Bless your little heart,' and my Gramma wouldn't lie!

ARE YOU PUSHED OR PUSHING?
How long would you keep an automobile that had to be pushed everywhere it went? How much would it be worth t you? How much pleasure would you find in it? You probably wouldn't keep a car like that very long, because it just couldn't be depended on to get you where you wanted to go, when you wanted to go.
The Lord is no more pleased with one of His servants that continually has to be pushed than you would be with an automobile that continually needs pushing.
God wants men and women of initiative and fervency of spirit. Paul taught us to be diligent, "not slothful...fervent in spirit; serving the Lord" (Romans 12:11)
A Christian that has to be pushed continually in order to keep him in service and attending worship is not devoted to Christ. It is understandable that a new convert might need to be pushed or encouraged, but if one who has been a Christian for many years must still be pushed, he is not growing spiritually as he should. He is not spiritually mature. Do
you have to be pushed? --Author Unknown

DON'T GIVE UP!
Your life is not a boring stretch of highway. It's a straight line to heaven. And just look at the fields ripening along the way. Look at the tenacity and endurance. Look at the grains of righteousness. You'll have quite a crop at harvest ... so don't give up! --Joni Eareckson Tada

GOD IN THE QUIETNESS
Recently, my hunger for some silence and solitude in my fast-paced life led me to a quiet monastery perched above the Pacific Ocean. After arriving, I sat on a bench overlooking the vast coastline 1,000 feet below. I beheld a vibrant, flaming pink sunset -- breathtaking, majestic, and powerful, yet at the same time, completely silent.
The quiet was a vivid contrast to what I had been experiencing. When we feel overwhelmed, we tend to move faster, become impatient, strive harder to stay in control. We seek to work things out for ourselves and turn to personal sources of strength instead of God. Like the Israelites, who were quick to trust in sources of power apart from God (horses, chariots, alliances), we are quick to trust in our own strength, our own resources,
our own abilities.
Yet God calls us to a different way. When we are caught up in busyness and striving, God calls us back to wait in quiet confidence until we can place our trust in God rather than our own efforts.
Lord, when we feel life is out of control, help us return to you. We repent of trusting in and depending upon any source of strength apart from you. We wait for your strength and your deliverance. Amen. --Stacey Padrick, "The Upper Room," date unknown

Peace with God is where all peace begins. --Jim Gallery

"When Jesus went home, he left the door open." - Max Lucado

Happiness keeps You Sweet,
Trials keep You Strong,
Sorrows keep You Human,
Failures keep You Humble,
Success keeps You Glowing,
But Only God keeps You Going!
You are so special!

September 27

2009-11-15T15:37:00.000-08:00

A vision without action is called a daydream; but then again, action without a vision is called a nightmare.

Baseball superstar Hank Aaron said, "It took me 17 years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. In golf, it took one afternoon."

My heart has committed sins that my hands haven't gotten around to yet. --Michael Horton,

Jesus left . . .
His purse to Judas; His body to Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus;
His mother to John the Beloved disciple; His seamless robe to the soldiers;
His peace to His disciples; His last supper to his followers;
His baptism to new believers; His love to the children.;
His healing to the sick; His teachings to the hungry in mind and spirit;
His church to society; His Gospel to the world; His hope for the hopeless.
His presence with all of God's children (quoted by Robert Strand, Fascinating Facts about Jesus (Green Forest, AR: New Leaf Press), #50.)

Americans now have about 25 consumer electronic products in every household, compared with just three in 1980. many products now require large amounts of power to run.
The biggest offender is the flat-screen television. As liquid crystal displays and plasma technologies replace the old cathode ray tubes, and as screen sizes increase, the new televisions need more power than older models do. And with all those gorgeous new televisions in their living rooms, Americans are spending more time than ever watching TV, averaging five hours a day.
The result is a surge in electricity use by TVs, which can draw more power in a year than some refrigerators now on the market.
Another power drain is the video game console, which is found in 40 percent of American households. Energy experts — and many frustrated parents — say that since saving games is difficult, children often keep the consoles switched on so they can pick up where they left off.

William Barclay told a story about someone changing signs. That is, at an intersection of the road, one sign would point to the city of Seattle and another sign would point to the city of Tacoma. And the boy wondered to himself: How many people could I send down the wrong road if I changed the signs? Your very life is a sign post with a sign on it. Are you sending people down the wrong road or the right road?

I ordered a burger at McDonalds and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"

The Cumulative Effect of Sin
Time-lapse photography compresses a series of events into one picture. Such a photo appeared in an issue of National Geographic. Taken from a Rocky Mountain peak during a heavy thunderstorm, the picture captured the brilliant lightning display that had taken place throughout the storm's duration. The time-lapse technique created a fascinating, spaghetti-like web out of the individual bolts. In such a way, our sin presents itself before the eyes of God. Where we see only isolated or individual acts, God sees the overall web of our sinning. What may seem insignificant -- even sporadic -- to us and passes with hardly a notice creates a much more dramatic display from God's panoramic viewpoint. The psalmist was right when he wrote, "Who can discern his [one's own] errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me." (Psalm 19:12-13).

Designed to Be Lived Up
Ted Engstrom of World Vision fame tells how one day he was cleaning out an old desk drawer. He found a flashlight he hadn't used in a year. He turned it on but there was no light. He shook it, and then he unscrewed one end to release what were probably dead batteries. The batteries wouldn't come out, but finally, after some effort, he shook them loose. What a mess he found! Corroded batteries with liquid acid seeping all over the mechanism - all because he hadn't used the flashlight regularly!
Batteries are designed to be turned on, to be used, not neglected or ignored. What you and I refuse to use we will surely lose. We're meant to he turned on, too. Our gifts are to be used! Our lives are not meant to be "waited out" but to be lived up! Are you and I living up to the gifts and talents God has given us? What kind of commitment do we have to ourselves and to the graces within us?

“We crucify ourselves between two thieves; regret for yesterday, and fear of tomorrow.” (Fulton Ourslur)

Too many churches in America have the vision, “Just be nice until the Lord comes.”

I used to ask God to help me.
Then I asked if I might help God.
I ended up by asking God
to do his work through me. Hudson Taylor

The economy is so bad that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.

"Goals. There's no telling what you can do when you get inspired by them. There's no telling what you can do when you believe in them. And there's no telling what will happen when you act upon them." -- Jim Rohn

"If you want to reach a goal, you must 'see the reaching' in your own mind before you actually arrive at your goal."-- Zig Ziglar

"An unwritten want is a wish, a dream, a never-happen. The day you put your goal in writing is the day it becomes a commitment that will change your life. Are you ready?"

"Goal-setting illuminates the road to success just as runway lights illuminate the landing field for an incoming aircraft." -- Nido Qubein

Where to Put the Pies
I was in a small rural church one time that had a major dispute about where the pies should be placed in the kitchen prior to serving them for the annual turkey supper. One woman actually left the church community because several new comers to the church had convinced the rest of the women working in the kitchen that it would be more efficient to put the pies on the counter beside the sink instead of the counter next to the refrigerator. "It's not the right way to do it", she said. "We've never done it that way before, and I am not going to be part of doing it that way now. I won't have any part of that kind of thing. Those new people are going to ruin this church. They don't know anything. They aren't even from around here."
Sound familiar to anyone?
The apostle John came up to Jesus one day. "Jesus", he said, "I was walking down the road with the rest of the disciples, and we saw someone casting out demons in your name. We tried to stop him because we don't know who he is; we tried to stop him because he's not one of us.

Every minute 47 Bibles are sold or distributed throughout the world.

Thought for the week: "Obstacles are only what you see when you take your eyes off the goal." - Anonymous

Habits are first cobwebs, then cables. Spanish proverb

If we analyze Lincoln's Gettysburg Address, that address contains 362 words and 302 of them are one syllable. It's simple and direct but powerful and effective.

"There ain't no free lunches in this country. And don't go spending your whole life commiserating that you got the raw deals. You've got to say, 'I think that if I keep working at this and want it bad enough I can have it.' It's called perseverance." -- Lee Iacocca

September 20

2009-11-15T15:36:00.000-08:00

"A life is not measured by years lived, but by its usefulness. If you are giving, loving, serving, helping, encouraging, and adding value to others, then you're living a life that counts." -- John Maxwell

"One person with passion is better than 40 who are merely interested." -- Thomas Connellan

"The important point to remember is that for the government to give, it must first take away." -- John S. Coleman

"If you want to be happy for a year, plant a garden; If you want to be happy for life, plant a tree." -- English Proverb

"Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them." -- W. Clement Stone

"Some of the best tasting and nutrient rich fruits are rather small. We don't need to do big things; we just need to do things that bear fruit." -- Ray Lammie

"I've learned that even when I have pains, I don't have to be one." -- Maya Angelou

"During a stay with grandparents, my five-year-old niece Michaela pulled corn on a neighbor's farm for the first time. Her grandparents used the experience as a teaching tool, explaining to Michaela that the corn was God's blessing to them. At first, the work was great fun, but after only a few minutes Michaela looked at her grandmother and commented, 'You know you can buy this in the grocery store, don't you?'"

It is still true. For want of a quiet, caring intimacy, a child's primary sense of self-worth is lost. And for want of security and self-worth, the child is lost. In most churches I've known, members find it quite easy to pass a youth by; they are more timid to engage a child than a stranger in conversation. Frequently, when youth are on committees, little sensitivity is expressed toward making them comfortable and enabling them to contribute.

Borrowed Faith Has No Power
Somewhere recently I read this statement: "Most of the 500 wealthiest Americans got their money the old-fashioned way: they inherited it." That may be the case with money, but it is not true with the most important things in life. It's not true of character. Of course we are influenced by character by our parents, but our own character is our own doing by our own choices and the way we choose to live.
We may inherit money, but we do not inherit faith. Someone put it in a catchy line, "God has no grandchildren." Faith needs to be first-hand, personal, and appropriated by each person. Too many of us are seeking to live on borrowed faith. The 500 wealthiest Americans may have received their wealth the old-fashioned say--by inheriting it--but we don't obtain character and faith that way. These are not inherited--they are personally claimed and cultivated.

Take time to think--it is the source of power.
Take time to play--it is the secret of perpetual youth.
Take time to read--it is the fountain of wisdom.
Take time to pray--it is the greatest power on earth.
Take time to love and be loved--it is a God-given privilege.
Take time to be friendly--it is the road to happiness.
Take time to laugh--it is the music of the soul.
Take time to give--it is too short a day to be selfish.
Take time to work--it is the price of success. Author Unknown.

Thoughts of a Blood Donor
I gave my blood; Christ gave His.
I gave a pint; He gave all.
The needle was small and sharp; the nails were large and dull.
The table was soft and relaxing; the cross rough and painful.
The nurses were kind and gentle; the soldiers were cruel and mean.
The crowd applauds my sacrifice; they that passed by reviled Him.
Mine is O positive; His for positively all.
Mine, at best, will prolong a life for a while;
His, without doubt, can save all forever.

A persistent judgment leveled against parents today is this: they gladly provide their children with every resource: Leaders, coaches, teachers, tutors, and youth workers. Certainly children should be happy and well-adjusted. They have everything money can buy. But they do not have the listening ear of Mom and Dad. "Too busy, later, not now, I'm working hard for your good." Recall the old saying:
"For the want of a nail the shoe was lost;
for the want of a shoe the horse was lost;
for the want of a horse the rider was lost;
for the want of the rider the battle was lost."

The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains.
The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.
William A. Ward

Why God Will Never Get Tenure at Any University
1. Only published one book.
2. It was in Hebrew.
3. It had no references.
4. He did not publish it in referenced journals.
5. Some doubt He even wrote it Himself.
6. He is not known for His cooperative work.
7. Sure, He created the world, but what has He done lately?
8. He did not get permission from any review board to work with human subjects.
9. When one experiment went awry, He tried to cover it up by drowning all the subjects.
10. When sample subjects do not behave as predicted, He deletes the whole sample.
11. He rarely comes to class-just tells His students to read the Book.
12. It is rumored that He sometimes lets His Son teach the class.
13. Although He only has 10 requirements, His students often fail His tests.
14. He expelled His first two students for learning.
15. His office hours were infrequent and usually held on a mountain top.

Great website: http://ebizarre.com/

Life is a matter of building. Each of us has the opportunity to build something -- a secure family, a good reputation, a career, a relationship to God. But some of those things can disappear almost overnight due to financial losses, natural disasters and other unforeseen difficulties.

What are we to do? Daniel Webster offered excellent advice, saying, "If we work on marble it will perish. If we work on brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to dust. But if we work on men's immortal minds, if we imbue them with high principles, with just fear of God and love of their fellow-men, we engrave on those tablets something which time cannot efface, and which will brighten and brighten to all eternity.

A group of European theologians once visited Mother Teresa in Calcutta. She said to them, "You try to do what I am doing, then you will be able to enjoy what I am doing." She took them to one of her childcare centers and picked up a child who was playing in the mud and gave the child a kiss. She waited for her guests to do the same. None of them did.

I have suffered from being misunderstood, but I would have suffered a lot more if I had been understood." Famous Trial Lawyer Clarence Darrow

A Father and his small son were out walking one day when the lad asked how electricity could go through the wires stretched between the telephone poles. "I don't know," said his father. "I never knew much about electricity." A few blocks farther on, the boy asked what caused lightning and thunder. "That too has puzzled me," came the reply. The youngster continued to inquire about many things, none of which the father could explain. Finally, as they were nearing home, the boy said, "Pop, I hope you didn't mind all those questions." "Not at all," replied his father. "How else are you going to learn!

Gambling Addiction and Seniors
As many as one in 10 seniors may be addicted to gambling, according to some researchers. Even a small loss at a slot machine or bingo table could mean financial trouble for those on a fixed income. "When we talk about gambling for this age group, it isn't just going to a casino, but it's also things like lottery, sweepstakes, that kind of thing," said Dr. Dennis McNeilly, associate professor of psychiatry at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. McNeilly indicated that what some senior citizens see as entertainment may end up being a path to addiction. Some signs to look for are: cashing in life insurance, asking for money to pay for everyday expenses and neglecting personal needs and family. [CitizenLink.com]

Having exchanged Biblical Correctness for Political Correctness, we are in the process (like the frog in the kettle) of slowly but surely self-destructing."

"Destiny is not a matter of chance, it's a matter of choice; it is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved." -- William Jennings Bryan

"You can learn new things at any time in your life if you're willing to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you. -- Barbara Sher

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless." -- Mother Teresa

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

Sign on an Irish gate: "Farmer allows walkers across the field for free, but the bull charges."

September 13

2009-11-15T15:34:00.000-08:00

New Church Bulletin Bloopers
*Next Friday we will be serving hot gods for lunch.
*If you would like to make a donation, fill out a form, enclose a check and drip in the collection basket.
*Women's Luncheon: Each member bring a sandwich. Polly Phillips will give the medication.
*Karen's beautiful solo: "It is Well With My Solo."
*Congratulations to Tim and Ronda on the birth of their daughter October 12 thru 17.
*If you choose to heave during the Postlude, please do so quietly.
*We are grateful for the help of those who cleaned up the grounds around the church building and the rector.
*Hymn: "I Love Thee My Ford."
*Sign-up sheet for anyone wishing to be water baptized on the table in the foyer.
*Newsletters are not being sent to absentees because of their weight.
*Helpers are needed! Please sign up on the information sheep.
*The Advent Retreat will be held in the lover level of St. Mary's Cathedral.
*The District Duperintendent will be meeting with the church boared.
*As soon as the weather clears up, the men will have a goof outing.
*Fifth Sinday is Lent.
*Thank you, dead friends.
*Diana and Don request your presents at their wedding.
*Lent is a period for preparing for Holy Weed and Easter.
*Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget all His benefits.
*For the word of God is quick and powerful...piercing even to the dividing asunder of soup and spirit.
*Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peach to men.

"Our joy will be complete if we remain in his love--for his love is personal, intimate, real, living, delicate, faithful love." - Mother Teresa

* I have a sign in the mirror of my room I see it every morning in my groggy condition, when I first wake up: WHAT HAVE YOU GOT GOING TODAY, GOD? I'D LIKE TO BE A PART OF IT. THANKS FOR LOVING ME.

I have to find my place in God's plans, rather than make my own little plans and then ask God to support them: "Come on, God, give me an A in this course. Come on, God, do this for me." Instead, I pray, "What have you got going today, God? You love this world. You loved this world into life. You created this world. We're all yours. What's my part in the drama? What part do you want me to play? I will play any part you say. Want me to be a success? I'll be a success for you. Want me to be a failure? I'll fail for you. Whatever you want." That's the condition of successful prayer. -- John Powell, "Prayer as Surrender"

Many Different Christs Are Offered
Marva Dawn in Reaching Out without Dumbing Down suggests the possibility of different christs today when she writes: At the 1987 Vancouver World's Fair, the Christian pavilion's presentation utilized glitzy double-reversed photography and flashing lasers. When I tried to explain my qualms about the production to an attendant who had asked me how I liked their "show," she protested that it had saved many people. I asked, "Saved by what kind of Christ?" If people are saved by a spectacular Christ, will they find him in the fumbling of their own devotional life or in the humble services of local parishes where pastors and organists make mistakes? Will a glitzy portrayal of Christ nurture in new believers his character of willing suffering and sacrificial obedience? Will it create an awareness of the idolatries of our age and lead to repentance? And does a flashy, hard-rock sound track bring people to a Christ who calls us away from the world's superficiality to deeper reflection and meditation? [p. 50]

Leonard Bernstein, the celebrated orchestra conductor, was asked, what is the hardest instrument to play. He replied without hesitation: "Second fiddle. I can always get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm or second French horn or second flute, now that's a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony."

September 7

2009-11-15T15:32:00.000-08:00

** Douglas Taylor-Weiss, rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Dayton, Ohio, has proposed a new set of Ten Commandments based on his observations of our culture: [From Martin Marty in Context]
"1. Have a good day. 2. Shop. 3. Eliminate pain.
4. Be up-to-date. 5. Relax. 6. Express yourself.
7. Have a happy family. 8. Be entertaining. 9. Be entertained.
10. Buy entertainment. OH--He forgot #11. Get in touch with your feelings.

"Pay no attention to what the critics say. A statue has never been erected in honor of a critic." - Jean Sibelius (1865-1957), Finnish composer

God didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.
Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.
Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.
Painful moments, TRUST GOD.
Every moment, THANK GOD.

Thoughts of Godly Wisdom
** Never confuse the will of the majority with the will of God. -- Charles Colson

** The modern myth of power has gravely impoverished our civilization. It has deprived it of all values that lie beyond the search for power. The beautiful, the good, the true cannot be weighed and measured. True knowledge is spiritual knowledge, which is beyond the reach of the world of quantity and therefore is disregarded by our civilization. -- Paul Tournier in The Whole Person in a Broken World

** A Luther Moment: I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess.

** Whenever God touches sin it is independence that is touched, and that awakens resentment in the human heart. Independence must be blasted clean out, there must be no such thing left, only freedom, which is very different. Freedom is the ability not to insist on my rights, but to see that God gets His. - Oswald Chambers

You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
You cannot lift the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
You cannot build character and courage by taking away people's initiative and independence.
You cannot help people permanently by doing for them, what they could and should do for themselves.
......Abraham Lincoln

"All the darkness in the world cannot put out the light of one small candle." -- Anonymous

"Don't be afraid to go out on a limb. That's where the fruit is." -- Anonymous

"We may or may not have been responsible for our addictions, but we are responsible for our recovery." -- Anonymous

"You will know the truth and the truth will set you free." -- Jesus Christ

"Admitting that I have a problem and need help is the beginning point of overcoming any problem." -- DI

** Our society is not a community radiant with the love of Christ, but a dangerous network of domination and manipulation in which we can easily get entangled and lose our soul. The basic question is whether we ministers of Jesus Christ have not already been so deeply molded by the seductive powers of our dark world that we have become blind to our own and other people's fatal state and have lost our power and motivation to swim for our lives. -- Henri J. M. Nouwen** Humility is the key to experiencing God's power. –Jim Cymbala, Brooklyn Tabernacle

** To applaud the will of God, to do the will of God, even to fight for the will of God is not difficult ... until it comes at cross-purposes with our will. Then the lines are drawn. –Richard J. Foster, in Leadership

Keep me, Lord, from ever hardening down into the state of being just another average Christian. A. W. Tozer

Have you ever thought that life is a car wash, and you're on a bike?

** Along with much bad thinking that has come down to us from the last four hundred years, goes split living. ... People who live compartmentalized lives worship God and go to church and do their "religious" bit on Sundays; then they switch that off and pursue their professions, weekday work, weekend hobbies, and all their relationships as though these were matters entirely separate from their Christian commitment. They don't even try to see their lives as a whole in terms of God and his Word. Instead they slip into their religious compartment on Sundays and their secular compartment of the other days of the week and allow no communication between the two. -- J.I. Packer

** Our society wrestles with many passionate social movements, including pleas for tolerance. But the capacity to know the difference between tolerance and intolerance seems in short supply. Most of us cannot think far past our provincial interests and pet theorems. We need intolerance for our troublesome biases and tolerance for whatever is straight, though it may come from our most needling adversaries. We are often dragged, kicking and screaming, into enlightenment by the Spirit who best mends our slothful thinking. It is not intolerant to reject falsehood, neither are we tolerant when we warmly appraise and accept screwy ideas. But in our wise intolerance we must not lose our love; and in our tolerance we must not give away our souls.-- Lloyd H. Ahlem

Why does God bring thunderclouds and disasters when we want green pastures and still waters? Bit by bit we find, behind the clouds, the Father's feet; behind the lightning, an abiding day that has no night; behind the thunder, "a still small voice" that comforts with a comfort that is unspeakable. The whole claim of the redemption of Jesus is that He can satisfy the last aching abyss of the human soul, not only hereafter, but here and now.
--Oswald Chambers

August 30

2009-11-15T15:28:00.000-08:00

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."