Keep your wants, your joys, your sorrows, your cares, and your fears before God. You cannot burden Him; you cannot weary Him. SC 100
What a thought – some one to always listen to us!
Christianity is not merely something to believe in, but someone to love.
Christianity is much more than a belief system. It is a heart experience with God.
A chaplain in an army during a war was passing over the field when he saw a soldier who had been wounded, lying upon the ground. He happened to have his Bible under his arm, and he stooped down and said to the man:
“‘Would you like me to read you something that is in the Bible?”
“The wounded man said, ‘I am so thirsty, I would rather have a drink of water.”
The chaplain hurried off, and as quickly as possible brought the water.
“‘Could you lift my head and put something under it?”
The chaplain removed his light overcoat, rolled it up, and tenderly lifting the head, put it as a pillow for the tired head to rest on.
“‘Now, said the man, ‘if only I had something over me. I am so cold.’”
There was only one thing the chaplain could do, and that was to take off his coat and cover the man. As he did so, the wounded man looked up in his face and said:
“‘If there is anything in that book that makes a man do for another what you have done for me, let me hear it.’”
Has anyone ever been led to love, and study God’s Word because of your life – something you did or something you said? Have others started on the journey to the kingdom because of you?
This is the real essence of Christianity!
The pastor proclaims eternal truths to people who would rather here the latest baseball score.
He teaches, though he must solicit his own classes.
He heals, though without pills or knife.
He prays for people and hopes they pray for him.
He leads worship and tries to make God real to those presen
He sows God’s Word and cultivates God’s vineyard so that we may have deep roots in Christ and bear abundant fruits of the Spirit.
He is a manager, administrator, correspondent, keeper of official records.
He is sometimes a lawyer, often a social worker, frequently a one-man emergency squad.
He is the favourite target of panhandlers and a decorative piece at public functions.
He is a writer, speech maker, something of an editor, a bit of a scholar, philosopher, entertainer, salesman, and arbitrator.
He is the theologian in residence and interpreter of the church at large.
He seeks the lost, visits the sick, counsels the troubled. He comforts the afflicted and afflicts the comfortable.
He tries to get people for baptism, confirmation, ministry, marriage, parenthood, old age, and finally death.
He tries to keep people focused on eternity as they rush through time.
He also tries to stay sweet when chided for either doing or not doing his duty, and often discovers that doing his duty can be just as not as offensive as not doing it.
He plans programs and recruits and trains workers when he can get them.
He is determined to multiply ministry and not monopolize it.
He wants people to experience the joy of being givers of Christian service as well as being recipients.
Then he spends considerable time in keeping people out of each other’s hair.
Between all this he prepares a sermon and preaches it on Sunday to those who don’t happen to have any other engagement.
Then on Monday he smiles when some jovial chap roars,
“What a job – one day a week!”
The infidel Voltaire once boastingly said:
“I am weary of hearing people repeat that twelve men established the Christian religion. I will prove that one man may suffice to overthrow it.”
Generations have passed since his death. Millions have joined in the war upon the Bible. But it is so far from being destroyed, that where there were a hundred in Voltaire’s time, there are now ten thousand, yes, a hundred thousand copies of the book of God. In the words of an early Reformer concerning the Christian church,
“The Bible is an anvil that has worn out many hammers.”
Saith the Lord in Isaiah 54:17
Isaiah 54:17
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
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English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
17 No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
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I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other children ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs, or toast. When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different than the other childrenís also.
But at least, I wasnít alone in my sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.
My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. You’d think we were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said weíd be gone an hour, that we be gone one hour or lessónot one hour and one minute. I am nearly ashamed to admit it, but she actually struck us. Not once, but each time we had a mind of our own and did as we pleased. That poor belt was used more on our seats than it was to hold up Daddy’s pants. Can you imagine someone actually hitting a child just because he disobeyed? Now you can begin to see how mean she really was.
We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath. The other children always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of insults because she made our clothes herself, just to save money. Why, oh why, did we have to have a mother who made us feel different from our friends?
The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning. We couldn’t sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept, my mother actually had the nerve to break the child. labor law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel things. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.
She always insisted upon us telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, even if it killed us and it nearly did!
By the time we were teenagers, she was much wiser, and our life became even more unbearable. None of this tooting the horn of a car for us to come running. She embarrassed us to no end by making our dates and friends come to the door to get us. If I spent the night with a girlfriend, can you imagine she checked on me to see if I was really there. I never had the chance to elope to Mexico, That is, if I’d had a boyfriend to elope with. I forgot to mention, while my friends were dating at the mature age of 12 and 13, my old fashioned mother refused to let me date until the age of 15 and 16. Fifteen, that is, if you dated only to go to a school function. And that was maybe twice a year.
Through the years, things didn’t improve a bit. We could not lie in bed ìsickî like our friends did, and miss school. If our friends had a toe ache, a hang nail or serious ailment, they could stay home from
school. Our marks in school had to be up to par. Our friendsí report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother, being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks.
As the years rolled by, first one, and then the other of us was put to shame. We were graduated from high school. With our mother behind us, talking, and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out.
My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. None of us have ever been arrested, divorced or beaten his mate. Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country. And whom do we have to blame for the terrible way we turned out? Youíre right, our mean mother. Look at the things we missed. We never got to march in a protest parade, to take part in a riot, burn draft cards, and a million and one other things that our friends did. She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults.
Using this as a background, I am trying to raise my three children. I stand a little taller and I am filled with pride when my children call me mean. Because, you see, I thank God, He gave me the meanest mother in the whole world.
Bobbie Pingaro ©1967
ABOVE RUBIES February 2008, No.73
In Florida, an atheist became incensed over the preparations of Easter and the Passover holidays. He decided to contact hid lawyer about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays while atheists had no holiday to celebrate.
The case was brought before a judge. After listening to the long passionate presentation by the lawyer, the Judge banged his gavel and declare, “Case dismissed!”
The lawyer immediately stood ad objected to the ruling ad said, “Your honour, how can you possibly dismiss this case? The Christians have Christmas, Easter and many other observances. Jews have Passover, Yom Kippur, and Hanukkah…yet my client and all other atheist have no such holiday!”
The judge leaned forward in his chair and simply said, “Obviously your client is too confused to even know about, much less celebrate his own holiday!”
The lawyer promptly said, “Your Honour, we are unaware of any such holiday for atheists Just when might that holiday be, Your Honour?”
The judge said, “Well it comes every year on exactly the same date – April 1st! Since our calendar sets April 1st as ‘April Fools Day,’ consider that Psalm 14:1
Psalm 14:1
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
14 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
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states, ‘The fool says in his heart, there is no God.’ thus, in my opinion, if your client says there is no God, then by Scripture, he is a fool, and April 1st is his holiday! Now, have a good day and get out of my courtroom!”
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
14 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. 1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.
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Happily Ever After – is it really possible?
…but with God all things are possible.
Here is an amazing series that was done at GYC by Alan and Nicole Parker. A very insightful series looking at our relationships with others around us and specifically with dating / courtship.
I Highly recommended it!
And here are the links below to the audio files from GYC.
Happily Ever After by Alan & Nicole Parker
Is This the One?
But We re Just Friends
Romance Courtship and Marriage
Getting Ready for Your Wedding Night
Beauty for Ashes Healing Past Hurts
Relationships Question and Answer
Late one night a father received the one phone call that parents dread the most, the one we all pray never comes.
It was the highway patrol. A vehicle carrying four teenagers had spun out of control at high speed and rammed into a barrier. All the passengers had been killed. The officer on the phone said, “We believe your daughter may have been on of the victims.”
Ashen-faced, the father drove to the hospital it identify the body of his beautiful girl, snuffed out in the prime of life. As he sat there in the emergency room with his head in his hands, grieving and shocked, he heard a police officer mention that alcohol was probably the culprit in this accident. Several broken whiskey bottles had been found in the wreckage beside the mangled bodies.
Now the father had a focus for his frenzied anguish. He rose up in a rage and threatened to kill whoever had provided the four young people with liquor. He would find the guilty party, whatever it took!
Back home, overwhelmed by grief and rage, he stumbled into the kitchen and opened the cupboard where he kept his own supply of alcohol. There he found a note in his daughter’s handwriting. His heart leaped to his throat. The note read, “Dad, we’re taking along some of your liquor – I know you won’t mind”.
The people around us adsorb how we live much more than what we say. Our lifestyle influences them more than our words. Our walk impacts them more than our talk. When our life is consistent with our words, it makes a difference in the lives of other.
Jesus’ words had such an impact because His teachings were consistent with how He lived. His life matched His words, the crowds could utter, “No man ever spoke like this man!” John 7:46
John 7:46
English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
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because there was never a man who lived like He lived. There was no gap between what Jesus said and how He lived.English: King James Version (1611) - KJV
46 The officers answered, Never man spake like this man.
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Sceptics may debate an idea, but they cannot deny God’s power in the awesome testimony of a changed life. When those closest to us see Christ’s love revealed in all our actions, they too will stand in awe of how great He is.
“Solid Ground” Mark Finley
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