Now is the time for all good graduates of high school, college, university and medical school, to realize the rights, responsibilities and privileges that come forth with their degrees and their completion of this life phase of education.
That first fact is to realize the learning is lifelong. It does not stop when you get out of high school, university, medical school, law school, pharmacy school or technical college. It just begins to help you come to understand that this value of education is everyday for the rest of your life.
Now is the time to commit to lifelong learning at your job, church, home and vocation, and the more you know, the more you are going to learn in the years ahead.
The world has changed so much in technology, education, jobs, commercial businesses and relationships that we must be prepared to keep on learning from our peers, mentors, co-workers, pastors, spouses, neighbors and friends that education does not ever stop at all.
The world of today demands that you keep on getting further credentials for your field of employment. Your vocation, brain, heart and health are constantly wishing to grasp at more facts, knowledge and information to make you wise and healthy.
Now is the time for all graduates to take on their responsibility to keep on learning in the field and on the job and with continuing education courses and reading and watching for new developments in your whole range of interests, hobbies and family lifestyle.
Now is the time for all graduates to come to understand that there are no breaks from school, as life is a school all its own for us to travel down its path to learn about the wonders of our technologies, sciences, job opportunities and life choices to make for yourself and your family.
Now is the time for all graduates to come to terms that life is seeking them to come and discover the vast world of wonderful information that can make them caring about the continued learning that goes on and on for their benefit and the good of the whole wide world.
So take this time to appreciate your present accomplishments. However, come to realize that this is just one step into a future of new beginnings and fresh hope for a better tomorrow for all you graduating this year.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
What Does A Hero Look Like?
It's really hard to define what a hero looks like.
-They come in all sizes, tall and short, thin and bulky. They range from the very young, to the old and experienced. They have big feet, failing eyes, poor hearing, and even weakened heartbeats.
-They are black, white, yellow, red and brown. They come from the very poorest of families and they come from the homes of the rich and the powerful.
-They speak English, and they speak Japanese. Spanish is their native tongue. They are Native Americans, and they are immigrants from other lands.
-They may wear the uniform of a soldier, a sailor, a Coast Guardsman, Marine, an aviator, or even a Merchant Marine. They are eager to fight, and they are men who hesitate to bear arms but will lay down their own lives to serve others.
-They are career military men and women, reluctant draftees, and eager young volunteers. They served as lowly privates, astute non-coms, young and inexperienced second lieutenants, and high ranking generals. They were infantrymen, combat engineers, Green Berets, Rangers, and truck drivers.
-They love to fly, and they are fearful of heights. They can swim like a fish and they can't swim at all.
-They hail from big city tenements, urban high rises, suburban homes, rural farms, and estates of the wealthy.
-They are orphans, they come from broken homes, and they hail from loving families. They are high school drop outs and college graduates, talented athletes and clumsy young men and women with two left feet.
-They are men and women who love their country, revere the flag, and are willing to serve. They have traveled to foreign places with names like Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Normandy, and the Volturno River. They've faced frigid winters at the Chosin Reservoir, mountainous jungles near Khe Sahn, and prison camps in Hanoi.
-They did their duty...did it well...and then came home to become doctors, lawyers, farmers, businessmen, and blue collar workers. Sadly, many of them never came home.
These men of the military and thousands more gave themselves for the cause of freedom, liberty, and justice. Without their sacrifice we would not be able to enjoy those things today. God bless you and your families on this Memorial Day 2011.
(To hear this entire message go to our website, http://www.donaldsoncog.com/)
-They come in all sizes, tall and short, thin and bulky. They range from the very young, to the old and experienced. They have big feet, failing eyes, poor hearing, and even weakened heartbeats.
-They are black, white, yellow, red and brown. They come from the very poorest of families and they come from the homes of the rich and the powerful.
-They speak English, and they speak Japanese. Spanish is their native tongue. They are Native Americans, and they are immigrants from other lands.
-They may wear the uniform of a soldier, a sailor, a Coast Guardsman, Marine, an aviator, or even a Merchant Marine. They are eager to fight, and they are men who hesitate to bear arms but will lay down their own lives to serve others.
-They are career military men and women, reluctant draftees, and eager young volunteers. They served as lowly privates, astute non-coms, young and inexperienced second lieutenants, and high ranking generals. They were infantrymen, combat engineers, Green Berets, Rangers, and truck drivers.
-They love to fly, and they are fearful of heights. They can swim like a fish and they can't swim at all.
-They hail from big city tenements, urban high rises, suburban homes, rural farms, and estates of the wealthy.
-They are orphans, they come from broken homes, and they hail from loving families. They are high school drop outs and college graduates, talented athletes and clumsy young men and women with two left feet.
-They are men and women who love their country, revere the flag, and are willing to serve. They have traveled to foreign places with names like Iwo Jima, Guadalcanal, Normandy, and the Volturno River. They've faced frigid winters at the Chosin Reservoir, mountainous jungles near Khe Sahn, and prison camps in Hanoi.
-They did their duty...did it well...and then came home to become doctors, lawyers, farmers, businessmen, and blue collar workers. Sadly, many of them never came home.
These men of the military and thousands more gave themselves for the cause of freedom, liberty, and justice. Without their sacrifice we would not be able to enjoy those things today. God bless you and your families on this Memorial Day 2011.
(To hear this entire message go to our website, http://www.donaldsoncog.com/)
Friday, May 27, 2011
The Young Sentinel
In the summer of 1862, a young man belonging to a Vermont regiment was found sleeping at his post. He was tried and sentenced to be shot. The day was fixed for the execution, and the young soldier calmly prepared to meet his fate.
Friends who knew of the case brought the matter to Mr. Lincoln's attention. It seemed that the boy had been on duty one night, and on the following night he had taken the place of a comrade too ill to stand guard. The third night he had been again called out, and, being utterly exhausted, had fallen asleep at his post.
As soon as Mr. Lincoln understood the case, he signed a pardon, and sent it to the camp. The morning before the execution arrived, and the President had not heard whether the pardon had reached the officers in charge of the matter. He began to feel uneasy. He ordered a telegram to be sent to the camp, but received no answer. State papers could not fix his mind, nor could he banish the condemned soldier boy from his thoughts.
At last, feeling that he MUST KNOW that the lad was safe, he ordered the carriage and rode rapidly ten miles over a dusty road and beneath a scorching sun. When he reached the camp he found that the pardon had been received and the execution stayed.
The sentinel was released, and his heart was filled with lasting gratitude. When the campaign opened in the spring, the young man was with his regiment near Yorktown, Virginia. They were ordered to attack a fort, and he fell at the first volley of the enemy.
His comrades caught him up and carried him bleeding and dying from the field. "Bear witness," he said, "that I have proved myself not a coward, and I am not afraid to die." Then, making a last effort, with his dying breath he prayed for Abraham Lincoln.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
THE BRAVERY OF RICHARD KIRTLAND
Richard Kirtland was a sergeant in the Second Regiment of South Carolina Volunteers. The day after the great battle of Fredericksburg, Kershaw's brigade occupied the road at the foot of Marye's Hill.
One hundred and fifty yards in front of the road, on the other side of a stone wall, lay Sykes's division of the United States Army. Between these troops and Kershaw's command a skirmish fight was continued through the entire day. The ground between the lines was literally covered with dead and dying Federal soldiers.
All day long the wounded were calling, "Water! water! water!"
In the afternoon, Sergeant Kirtland, a Confederate soldier, went to the headquarters of General Kershaw, and said with deep emotion: "General, all through last night and to-day - I have been hearing those poor wounded Federal soldiers out there cry for water. Let me go and give them some."
"Don't you know," replied the general, "that you would get a bullet through you the moment you stepped over the wall?"
"Yes, sir," said the sergeant - "but if you will let me go I am willing to try it."
The general reflected a minute, then answered: "Kirtland, I ought not to allow you to take this risk, but the spirit that moves you is so noble I cannot refuse. Go, and may God protect you!"
In the face of almost certain death the sergeant climbed the wall, watched with anxiety by the soldiers of his army. Under the curious gaze of his foes, and exposed to their fire, he dropped to the ground and hastened on his errand of mercy.
Unharmed, untouched, he reached the nearest sufferer. He knelt beside him, tenderly raised his drooping head, rested it gently on his breast, and poured the cooling life-giving water down the parched throat. This done he laid him carefully down, placed the soldier's knapsack under his head, straightened his broken limbs, spread his coat over him, replaced the empty canteen with a full one, then turned to another sufferer.
By this time his conduct was understood by friend and foe alike and the firing ceased on both sides.
For an hour and a half did he pursue his noble mission, until he had relieved the wounded on all parts of the battlefield. Then he returned to his post uninjured.
Surely such a noble deed is worthy of the admiration of men and angels.
Tuesday, May 24, 2011
Honored By A Foe
In a rifle-pit, on the brow of a hill near Fredericksburg, were a number of Confederate soldiers who had exhausted their ammunition in the vain attempt to check the advancing column of Hooker's finely equipped and disciplined army which was crossing the river. To the relief of these few came the brigade in double-quick time. But no sooner were the soldiers intrenched than the firing on the opposite side of the river became terrific.
A heavy mist obscured the scene. The Federal soldiers poured a merciless fire into the trenches. Soon many Confederates fell, and the agonized cries of the wounded who lay there calling for water, smote the hearts of their helpless comrades.
"Water! Water!" But there was none to give, the canteens were-empty.
"Boys," exclaimed Nathan Cunningham, a lad of eighteen, the color-bearer for his regiment, "I can't stand this any more. They want water, and water they must have. So let me have a few canteens and I'll go for some."
Carefully laying the colors, which he had borne on many a field, in a trench, he seized some canteens, and, leaping into the mist, was soon out of sight.
Shortly after this the firing ceased for a while, and an order came for the men to fall back to the main line.
As the Confederates were retreating they met Nathan Cunningham, his canteens full of water, hurrying to relieve the thirst of the wounded men in the trenches. He glanced over the passing column and saw that the faded flag, which he had carried so long, was not there. The men in their haste to obey orders HAD FORGOTTEN OR OVERLOOKED THE COLORS.
Quickly the lad sped to the trenches, intent now not only on giving water to his comrades, but on rescuing the flag and so to save the honor of his regiment.
His mission of mercy was soon accomplished. The wounded men drank freely. The lad then found and seized his colors, and turned to rejoin his regiment. Scarcely had he gone three paces when a company of Federal soldiers appeared ascending the hill.
"Halt and surrender," came the stern command, and a hundred rifles were leveled at the boy's breast.
"NEVER! while I hold the colors," was his firm reply.
The morning sun, piercing with a lurid glare the dense mist, showed the lad proudly standing with his head thrown back and his flag grasped in his hand, while his unprotected breast was exposed to the fire of his foe.
A moment's pause. Then the Federal officer gave his command:
"Back with your pieces, men, don't shoot that brave boy."
And Nathan Cunningham, with colors flying over his head, passed on and joined his regiment.
His comrades in arms still tell with pride of his brave deed and of the generous act of a foe.
Monday, May 23, 2011
A Soldier Died Today
He was getting old and paunchy and his hair was falling fast;
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies, they were heroes everyone.
And tho' sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer, for old John has passed away;
And the world's a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He'll not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won't note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
And thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Newspapers tell their life stories, from the time that they were young.
But, the passing of a simple Soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land,
A person who breaks promises and cons his fellow man,
Or the ordinary fellow, who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers his life?
It"s so easy to forget them, for it was so long ago,
That the "old Johns" of our country went to battle, but we know,
It was not the politicians, with their promises and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
He was just a "common soldier" and his ranks are growing thin.
But, his presence should remind us, we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the Soldier's part,
Is to clean up the troubles, that others often start.
If we cannot give him honor, while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least, let's give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps a simple notice, in the paper that would say,
"Our country is in mourning, cause a Soldier passed away today."
And he sat around the Legion, telling stories of the past.
Of a war that he had fought in and the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies, they were heroes everyone.
And tho' sometimes to his neighbors, his tales became a joke,
All his legion buddies listened, for they knew whereof he spoke.
But we'll hear his tales no longer, for old John has passed away;
And the world's a little poorer, for a soldier died today.
He'll not be mourned by many, just his children and his wife,
For he lived an ordinary and quite uneventful life.
Held a job and raised a family, quietly going his own way,
And the world won't note his passing, though a soldier died today.
When politicians leave this earth, their bodies lie in state,
And thousands note their passing and proclaim that they were great.
Newspapers tell their life stories, from the time that they were young.
But, the passing of a simple Soldier goes unnoticed and unsung.
Is the greatest contribution to the welfare of our land,
A person who breaks promises and cons his fellow man,
Or the ordinary fellow, who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his Country and offers his life?
It"s so easy to forget them, for it was so long ago,
That the "old Johns" of our country went to battle, but we know,
It was not the politicians, with their promises and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our Country now enjoys.
He was just a "common soldier" and his ranks are growing thin.
But, his presence should remind us, we may need his like again.
For when countries are in conflict, then we find the Soldier's part,
Is to clean up the troubles, that others often start.
If we cannot give him honor, while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least, let's give him homage at the ending of his days.
Perhaps a simple notice, in the paper that would say,
"Our country is in mourning, cause a Soldier passed away today."
Saturday, May 21, 2011
The Preacher and the Lawn Mower
A preacher was making his rounds to his parishioners on a bicycle, when he came upon a little boy trying to sell a lawnmower.
"How much do you want for the mower?" asked the preacher.
"I'm just trying to make enough money to buy a bicycle," said the little boy.
After a moment of consideration, the preacher asked, "Will you take my bike in trade for it?"
The boy said, "You got a deal."
The preacher took the mower and tried to start it. He pulled on the cord a few times with no response from the mower.
The preacher called the little boy over and said, "I can't get this mower to start."
The little boy said, "That's 'cause you have to cuss at it to get it started."
The preacher said, "I'm a minister, and I can't cuss. It's been so long since I've been 'saved' that I don't know if I even remember how to cuss."
The little boy looked at him with a smile and said, "Just keep pulling on that cord. It'll come back to ya!"
"How much do you want for the mower?" asked the preacher.
"I'm just trying to make enough money to buy a bicycle," said the little boy.
After a moment of consideration, the preacher asked, "Will you take my bike in trade for it?"
The boy said, "You got a deal."
The preacher took the mower and tried to start it. He pulled on the cord a few times with no response from the mower.
The preacher called the little boy over and said, "I can't get this mower to start."
The little boy said, "That's 'cause you have to cuss at it to get it started."
The preacher said, "I'm a minister, and I can't cuss. It's been so long since I've been 'saved' that I don't know if I even remember how to cuss."
The little boy looked at him with a smile and said, "Just keep pulling on that cord. It'll come back to ya!"
Friday, May 20, 2011
The Overweight Businessman
There is the story of a businessman who, even as he was gaining in accomplishment and accolade, was gaining in another area: weight. Finally, he said, "Enough is enough. God, from here on out I'm going to lose weight with your help."
Well, he started off wonderfully, even going so far as to drive a different route to work so he would not go by his favorite pastry shop. (Remembering Paul's admonishment to "flee" temptation.) Shortly his co-workers could see a difference.
One day he arrived at work and, to the astonishment of his co-workers, he was carrying a humongous pastry, obviously laden with dozens of grams of fat and thousands of calories. One of his colleagues followed him into his office and said, "Giving up on the old diet, eh?"
"Oh, no, Fred, today, this is the will of God!" proclaimed the businessman. "See, I turned the wrong direction this morning and before I realized it, I was on my old route that would take me by this pastry shop. Now, I've been very good on my diet and there for a second or two I thought, ' wouldn't it be a fine way to reward myself for my diligence to stop at my favorite pastry shop.' But then I thought that might just be a rationalization, so I said, 'Lord, I'll know it's your will that I have a pastry this morning if there is a parking space right in front of that pastry shop'."
"And you know, Fred, there was! Of course, I had to circle the block, but on the tenth time around, there was a parking spot, right in front of the pastry shop!"
How many of us are like the overweight businessman?
No, not that we've put on some weight, although I can certainly relate to that, but that we approach our prayer life as he did; trying to superimpose our will over that of our Heavenly Father. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to ask for God's will in Matthew 6:10, and the New Testament is simply filled with instances and examples of the occasions upon which Christ prayed. More numerous than the miracles are Christ's prayers. And in the Garden, shortly before He was betrayed, He prayed to the Father, "may your will be done." in Matthew 26:39. Even Christ, with His high standing as the only Son of God, did not attempt to superimpose His will over that of the Father, but rather accepted the will of His Father over what He would will. Paul also taught the church at Thessalonica to "Pray continually" in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
So if the One True Son of God recognizes the Father's Will as the only right will, who are we to pray or rationalize otherwise? As we attempt to please Father God and follow His will, the devil loves to suggest sneaky little detours like the parking places of "our will", but if we keep our focus upon God and get on our knees and in His Word and seek His will, our prayers will defeat the enemy of our souls.
Beloved, prayer is the most powerful thing we can do as Christians and it is simultaneously the easiest and most difficult thing we do. And there is absolutely no substitute for it. Show me a Christian who doesn't pray, and I'll show you instead a heathen whose initial salvation may well be a sham.
So when we pray, let's seek His will and pray accordingly. We probably won't be able to pray without ceasing until we are in His presence, but that standard should remain as our standard, just as Jesus' life should remain our standard.
Well, he started off wonderfully, even going so far as to drive a different route to work so he would not go by his favorite pastry shop. (Remembering Paul's admonishment to "flee" temptation.) Shortly his co-workers could see a difference.
One day he arrived at work and, to the astonishment of his co-workers, he was carrying a humongous pastry, obviously laden with dozens of grams of fat and thousands of calories. One of his colleagues followed him into his office and said, "Giving up on the old diet, eh?"
"Oh, no, Fred, today, this is the will of God!" proclaimed the businessman. "See, I turned the wrong direction this morning and before I realized it, I was on my old route that would take me by this pastry shop. Now, I've been very good on my diet and there for a second or two I thought, ' wouldn't it be a fine way to reward myself for my diligence to stop at my favorite pastry shop.' But then I thought that might just be a rationalization, so I said, 'Lord, I'll know it's your will that I have a pastry this morning if there is a parking space right in front of that pastry shop'."
"And you know, Fred, there was! Of course, I had to circle the block, but on the tenth time around, there was a parking spot, right in front of the pastry shop!"
How many of us are like the overweight businessman?
No, not that we've put on some weight, although I can certainly relate to that, but that we approach our prayer life as he did; trying to superimpose our will over that of our Heavenly Father. When Jesus taught His disciples to pray, He taught them to ask for God's will in Matthew 6:10, and the New Testament is simply filled with instances and examples of the occasions upon which Christ prayed. More numerous than the miracles are Christ's prayers. And in the Garden, shortly before He was betrayed, He prayed to the Father, "may your will be done." in Matthew 26:39. Even Christ, with His high standing as the only Son of God, did not attempt to superimpose His will over that of the Father, but rather accepted the will of His Father over what He would will. Paul also taught the church at Thessalonica to "Pray continually" in 1 Thessalonians 5:17.
So if the One True Son of God recognizes the Father's Will as the only right will, who are we to pray or rationalize otherwise? As we attempt to please Father God and follow His will, the devil loves to suggest sneaky little detours like the parking places of "our will", but if we keep our focus upon God and get on our knees and in His Word and seek His will, our prayers will defeat the enemy of our souls.
Beloved, prayer is the most powerful thing we can do as Christians and it is simultaneously the easiest and most difficult thing we do. And there is absolutely no substitute for it. Show me a Christian who doesn't pray, and I'll show you instead a heathen whose initial salvation may well be a sham.
So when we pray, let's seek His will and pray accordingly. We probably won't be able to pray without ceasing until we are in His presence, but that standard should remain as our standard, just as Jesus' life should remain our standard.
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Mom's Definitions
- MAKEUP: Lipstick, eyeliner, blush,etc. which ironically makes Mom look better while making her young daughter look "like a tramp."
- MAYBE: No.
MILK: A healthful beverage which kids will gladly drink once it's turned into junk food by the addition of sugar and cocoa.
- "MOMMMMMMM!": The cry of a child on another floor who wants something.
- MUSH: What a kid loves to do with a plateful of food. 2. Main element of Mom's favorite movies.
- NAILS: A hard covering on the end of the finger, which Mom can never have a full set of due to pitching for batting practice, opening stubborn modeling clay lids and removing heat ducts to retrieve army men and/or doll clothing.
- OCEAN: What the bathroom floor looks like after bath night for kids, assorted pets, two or three full-sized towels and several dozen toy boats, cars and animals.
- OPEN: The position of children's mouths when they eat in front of company.
- OVERSTUFFED RECLINER: Mom's nickname for Dad.
- PANIC: What a mother goes thru when the darn wind-up swing stops.
- PENITENTIARY: Where children who don't eat their vegetables or clean their rooms eventually end up, according to Mom.
- PETS: Small, furry creatures which follow kids home so Mom will have someone else to clean up after.
- PIANO: A large, expensive musical instrument which, after thousands of dollars worth of lessons and constant harping by Mom, kids will refuse to play in front of company.
- PURSE: A handbag in which Mom carries the checkbook and keys she can never find because they're buried under tissues, gum wrappers, a plastic container full of cereal, toys from a fast-food restaurant, a teddy bear, a football, wallpaper samples, a grocery list and several outdated coupons.
- QUIET: A state of household serenity which occurs before the birth of the first child and occurs again after the last child has left for college.
- RAINCOAT: Article of clothing Mom bought to keep a child dry and warm, rendered ineffective because it's in the bottom of a locker stuffed in a book bag or because the child refuses to wear "the geeky thing."
- REFRIGERATOR: Combination art gallery and air conditioner for the kitchen.
- ROOM MOTHER: A position of great honor and responsibility bestowed on a mom who inadvertently misses a PTA meeting.
- SCHOOL PLAY: Sadistic ritual in which adults derive pleasure from watching offspring stumble through coarse reenactment of famous historic events.
- SCREAMING: Home P.A. system.
- SNOWSUITS: Warm, padded outer garments that, when completely zipped and snapped performs two important functions: Protecting children from the cold and reminding them that they have to go to the bathroom.
- SUNDAY BEST: Attractive, expensive children's clothing made of a fabric which attracts melted chocolate and grape juice.
- TEACHER CONFERENCE: A meeting between Mom and that person who has yet to understand her child's "special needs."
- TERRIBLE TWO'S: Having both kids at home all summer.
- TRAMP: A woman with two kids and no stretch marks.
- TROUBLE: Area of nonspecific space a child can always be sure to be in.
- VITAMINS: Tiny facsimiles of cave people Mom forces you to swallow each morning as part of her sinister plot to have you grow up to be "Just like Daddy."
- WALLS: Complete set of drawing paper for kids that comes with every room.
- WASHING MACHINE: Household appliance used to clean blue jeans, permanent ink markers, loose change, homework, tissues and wads of gum.
- WHEN YOUR FATHER GETS HOME: Standard measurement of time between crime and punishment.
- XOXOXOXO: Mom salutation guaranteed to make the already embarrassing note in a kid's lunch box even more mortifying.
- ZUCCHINI: Vegetable which can be baked, boiled, fried or steamed before kids refuse to eat it.
MILK: A healthful beverage which kids will gladly drink once it's turned into junk food by the addition of sugar and cocoa.
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Pride-Being Full of Hot Air
James 4:11-17 "Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” But now you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin."
A sailor once took a group of young people boating for the day. One young man bragged the whole way about all he knew about the sea. Every time the sailor began to give instructions this young man would interrupt with his supposed knowledge. After some time a squall blew up. The sailor began to hand out lifejackets. “Where’s mine?” cried the know-it-all. “Don’t worry son,” replied the old sailor. “You don’t need a life jacket. With a head as full of hot air as yours you will float forever!” This passage deals with how pride tends to cause us to play God and the problems that go along with that.
(1) Pride presumes we are something that we aren't!
Pride presumes that we are something we are not. Pride presumes we are qualified to speak evil of one another when we are not. This phrase is often translated backbiter in the New Testament. Slander is critical speech intended to inflame others against the person being criticized according to 1 Peter 2:1, 2. Such slanderous speech must have been common because James uses the present tense-“Do not keep on speaking evil of one another.”
Evil speaking is “non-redemptive criticism”. It wishes to be heard but does nothing to restore. It sets one’s self up as the authority rather than God. This kind of speech makes us one who judges the law (v.11). It seems this verse is speaking of the Royal Law of James 2:8, “love your neighbor as yourself.” When we point non-redemptive criticism at a brother we are breaking the very law we claim we are offended that we say he has broken.
Such talk puts us in the place of the only true Lawgiver (v.12). Why is this playing God? Because we would have to know every external circumstance. Because we would have to know every inner thought and motive. When we judge people this way we are jumping ahead of God. We are jumping the gun on God when we pretend to judge in others what He has yet to pass judgment on Himself.
(2) Pride prevents the right kinds of judgment.
Pride also prevents the right kind of judgment from being made. Scripture clearly encourages us to have redemptive judgment toward each other in Galatians 6:1 and Matthew 18:15.
What is redemptive judgment like?
-It is reflective - it looks first at self and asks God what is there on my own life that needs to be made right.
-It is respectful – it seeks to keep matters as private as possible.
-It is restorative – it wants to help another person be back in right relation with God.
(3) Pride presumes we know what tomorrow will bring.
Pride causes us to play God with our own lives because it presumes to know what tomorrow holds. This passage does not forbid planning or profit making. In fact, work is honorable and commanded by God.
A man once saw a fellow panhandling in front of a store. He scolded the man and said, “Why don’t you get a job?” “Why,” answered the man. “Well, so you can save a lot of money,” replied the man. “Why,” asked the man again. “Well, so you can put it in the bank and retire one day,” retorted the frustrated speaker. “Why,“asked the man one more time. “Well, so you can do whatever you want to and never have to work again, “answered the man one last time. “Don’t’ work now and do what I want to now,” answered the panhandler. Some people just don’t get work but it is commanded by God in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15.
This is a reminder that we do not know what tomorrow holds. As Proverbs says, “Many are the plans in the mind of man; but it is the purposes of the Lord that are established.” This passage describes people who were probably ardent believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were not atheists. But they were practical atheists. A practical atheist just lives his every day life as though God doesn’t exist. God often is just not in the equation in the details of life. Our attitude is, “God you take care of the eternal things and I’ll take care of the daily things.”
We are reminded, “you do not know what will happen tomorrow” (v.14). The flip side of this would be that today is what should concern us the most. An old saying goes, “Today’s happiness is often crucified between two thieves. Yesterday’s failures and tomorrow’s fears.” The call of God is call for today. Today is the day of salvation. Hear him today. Call on Him today while He may be found. Is there anything in your life that you are putting off till tomorrow? You have no assurance about tomorrow.
(4) Pride places our plans ahead of God’s plans.
Pride causes us to play God with our own lives because it places our plans ahead of God’s plans (vv.15-17). We are reminded that God’s will should be the compass of our lives. Paul was always aware of God’s hand on his life. His constant refrain was, “God willing” in Acts 18:21 and 1 Corinthians 4:19.
This centering of one’s life is best summed up in the words of Romans 12:1-2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” By living as though we are in control of life we show an arrogance toward God and His Word (v.16).
When Napoleon Bonaparte was about to invade Russia, a person who was trying to persuade him from this act said, “Man proposes but God disposes.” Napoleon replied, “I dispose as well as propose.” Not long after that he found himself exiled a failure. Nebuchadenezzar was stricken down for the pride in what he could do with his own hands in Daniel 4:28-33; 37.
To ignore this principle of life is sin at the core (v.17). The context concerns the matter of not being arrogant in how one views other, self and life. To fail to recognize this principle is sin. To fail to live this principle is sin.
Remember to live life with a “God willing” over everything and you cannot go wrong! Don't let pride fill you with just a lot of hot air.
A sailor once took a group of young people boating for the day. One young man bragged the whole way about all he knew about the sea. Every time the sailor began to give instructions this young man would interrupt with his supposed knowledge. After some time a squall blew up. The sailor began to hand out lifejackets. “Where’s mine?” cried the know-it-all. “Don’t worry son,” replied the old sailor. “You don’t need a life jacket. With a head as full of hot air as yours you will float forever!” This passage deals with how pride tends to cause us to play God and the problems that go along with that.
(1) Pride presumes we are something that we aren't!
Pride presumes that we are something we are not. Pride presumes we are qualified to speak evil of one another when we are not. This phrase is often translated backbiter in the New Testament. Slander is critical speech intended to inflame others against the person being criticized according to 1 Peter 2:1, 2. Such slanderous speech must have been common because James uses the present tense-“Do not keep on speaking evil of one another.”
Evil speaking is “non-redemptive criticism”. It wishes to be heard but does nothing to restore. It sets one’s self up as the authority rather than God. This kind of speech makes us one who judges the law (v.11). It seems this verse is speaking of the Royal Law of James 2:8, “love your neighbor as yourself.” When we point non-redemptive criticism at a brother we are breaking the very law we claim we are offended that we say he has broken.
Such talk puts us in the place of the only true Lawgiver (v.12). Why is this playing God? Because we would have to know every external circumstance. Because we would have to know every inner thought and motive. When we judge people this way we are jumping ahead of God. We are jumping the gun on God when we pretend to judge in others what He has yet to pass judgment on Himself.
(2) Pride prevents the right kinds of judgment.
Pride also prevents the right kind of judgment from being made. Scripture clearly encourages us to have redemptive judgment toward each other in Galatians 6:1 and Matthew 18:15.
What is redemptive judgment like?
-It is reflective - it looks first at self and asks God what is there on my own life that needs to be made right.
-It is respectful – it seeks to keep matters as private as possible.
-It is restorative – it wants to help another person be back in right relation with God.
(3) Pride presumes we know what tomorrow will bring.
Pride causes us to play God with our own lives because it presumes to know what tomorrow holds. This passage does not forbid planning or profit making. In fact, work is honorable and commanded by God.
A man once saw a fellow panhandling in front of a store. He scolded the man and said, “Why don’t you get a job?” “Why,” answered the man. “Well, so you can save a lot of money,” replied the man. “Why,” asked the man again. “Well, so you can put it in the bank and retire one day,” retorted the frustrated speaker. “Why,“asked the man one more time. “Well, so you can do whatever you want to and never have to work again, “answered the man one last time. “Don’t’ work now and do what I want to now,” answered the panhandler. Some people just don’t get work but it is commanded by God in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15.
This is a reminder that we do not know what tomorrow holds. As Proverbs says, “Many are the plans in the mind of man; but it is the purposes of the Lord that are established.” This passage describes people who were probably ardent believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. They were not atheists. But they were practical atheists. A practical atheist just lives his every day life as though God doesn’t exist. God often is just not in the equation in the details of life. Our attitude is, “God you take care of the eternal things and I’ll take care of the daily things.”
We are reminded, “you do not know what will happen tomorrow” (v.14). The flip side of this would be that today is what should concern us the most. An old saying goes, “Today’s happiness is often crucified between two thieves. Yesterday’s failures and tomorrow’s fears.” The call of God is call for today. Today is the day of salvation. Hear him today. Call on Him today while He may be found. Is there anything in your life that you are putting off till tomorrow? You have no assurance about tomorrow.
(4) Pride places our plans ahead of God’s plans.
Pride causes us to play God with our own lives because it places our plans ahead of God’s plans (vv.15-17). We are reminded that God’s will should be the compass of our lives. Paul was always aware of God’s hand on his life. His constant refrain was, “God willing” in Acts 18:21 and 1 Corinthians 4:19.
This centering of one’s life is best summed up in the words of Romans 12:1-2: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” By living as though we are in control of life we show an arrogance toward God and His Word (v.16).
When Napoleon Bonaparte was about to invade Russia, a person who was trying to persuade him from this act said, “Man proposes but God disposes.” Napoleon replied, “I dispose as well as propose.” Not long after that he found himself exiled a failure. Nebuchadenezzar was stricken down for the pride in what he could do with his own hands in Daniel 4:28-33; 37.
To ignore this principle of life is sin at the core (v.17). The context concerns the matter of not being arrogant in how one views other, self and life. To fail to recognize this principle is sin. To fail to live this principle is sin.
Remember to live life with a “God willing” over everything and you cannot go wrong! Don't let pride fill you with just a lot of hot air.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Forrest Gump Goes to Heaven
Forrest Gump dies and goes to Heaven. He is met at the Pearly Gate by St. Peter himself. The gates are closed, however, and Forrest approaches the gatekeeper. St. Peter says "Well, Forrest, it's certainly good to see you. We have heard so many good things about you. I must inform you that Heaven is filling up, and so we've been giving an entrance quiz to everyone. The tests are short, but you need to pass before you can get into Heaven."
Forrest responds "It sure is good to be here, St. Peter. I was looking forward to this. But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. Sure hope the test ain't too hard; Life was a big enough test as it was."
St. Peter goes on, "I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions:"
St. Peter waves him up and says, "Now that you have had a chance to think the questions over, tell me your answers".
Forrest says, "Well, the first one how many days of the week begin with the letter "T?" "Shucks, that one's easy. That'd be Today and Tomorrow."
St. Peter's eyes open wide and he exclaims, "Forrest! That's not what I was thinking, but... you do have a point there, and I guess I wasn't specify, so I will give you credit for that answer." "How about the next one?" "How many seconds in a year?"
"Now that one's harder" says Forrest, "but I thought and thought about that and I guess the only answer can be twelve." Astounded, St. Peter says "Twelve! Twelve! Forrest, how in Heaven's name could you come up with twelve seconds in a year?"
Forest says "Aw, come on, St Peter, there's 'gotta be twelve; January second, February second, March second. . ."
"Okay, okay," interrupts St. Peter. "I see where you're going with it. And I see your point, though that wasn't quite what I had in mind, but I'll give you credit for that one too. Let's go on with the next and final question. Can you tell me God's first name?"
Forrest replied, "Andy."
"Andy!" "How did you come up with the name Andy?"
Forrest replied, "You know, St. Peter, that song we sing in church: "Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me. . ."
The lesson: THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW, and just because another person doesn't see things the same way or understand the same way that you do, does not mean that it's wrong.
Forrest responds "It sure is good to be here, St. Peter. I was looking forward to this. But nobody ever told me about any entrance exam. Sure hope the test ain't too hard; Life was a big enough test as it was."
St. Peter goes on, "I know, Forrest, but the test is only three questions:"
- What days of the week begin with the letter 'T' ?
- How many seconds are there in a year?
- What is God's first name?
St. Peter waves him up and says, "Now that you have had a chance to think the questions over, tell me your answers".
Forrest says, "Well, the first one how many days of the week begin with the letter "T?" "Shucks, that one's easy. That'd be Today and Tomorrow."
St. Peter's eyes open wide and he exclaims, "Forrest! That's not what I was thinking, but... you do have a point there, and I guess I wasn't specify, so I will give you credit for that answer." "How about the next one?" "How many seconds in a year?"
"Now that one's harder" says Forrest, "but I thought and thought about that and I guess the only answer can be twelve." Astounded, St. Peter says "Twelve! Twelve! Forrest, how in Heaven's name could you come up with twelve seconds in a year?"
Forest says "Aw, come on, St Peter, there's 'gotta be twelve; January second, February second, March second. . ."
"Okay, okay," interrupts St. Peter. "I see where you're going with it. And I see your point, though that wasn't quite what I had in mind, but I'll give you credit for that one too. Let's go on with the next and final question. Can you tell me God's first name?"
Forrest replied, "Andy."
"Andy!" "How did you come up with the name Andy?"
Forrest replied, "You know, St. Peter, that song we sing in church: "Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me. . ."
The lesson: THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER POINT OF VIEW, and just because another person doesn't see things the same way or understand the same way that you do, does not mean that it's wrong.
Monday, May 16, 2011
What Young People Really Need
Ecclesiastes 12:1, "Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them."
There are those who would tell our young people that the most important thing for them is to make a good living; however that is not true. We all want to have enough to make us comfortable materially, but a person must make provision for the spiritual before anything else in life. It is not wise to waste ones life in sin, planning in the declining years to then begin to seek the Lord.
The desire to know God and come to God may not be present in your life just a few years from now, so don’t count on that desire being active a few years in the future. You should come to Christ now while you can; while you have the longing to do so. What do young people really need?
(1) Young People Need The Way. So many today are wandering about aimlessly without real purpose and direction for their lives. I believe that young people are searching for something and do not really know what it is. Some of them think they need the pleasure way, the partying way, or the pandering way. What kind of way do they need?
-First, the spiritual way. God cannot be known through idols or the works of men’s hands; we come to know Him spiritually as we turn from sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.
-Secondly, a singular way. Jesus made it crystal clear in Jn. 14:6 that He is–"The Way, the Truth, and the Life." Christ brings us into the only way that is truly meaningful.
-Thirdly, a satisfying way. Drugs, dope, and degenerate living will not bring complete satisfaction to ones life.
(2) Young People Need The Word. See Psalm 119:9.
-Primarily, the word of salvation. The Bible is a book of salvation from Gen.1:1 through Rev. 22. Jesus said we must be born again (John3:3).
-Secondly, the word of separation (2 Corinthians 6:17). Further, they need the word of the second coming of Christ ( John 14:3).
(3) Young People Need The Warnings. The warnings primarily have to do with sin.
-Tell them first, sin will deceive them.
-It does not stop there, but it goes on to seek to try to destroy them. Sin is not constructive, rather it is an extremely destructive force.
-Finally, they need to know that sin will deny them. It will deny God’s best to them.
There is a degree of temporal pleasure in sin, but it is only for a season. Be warned! Get what you need from God rather than attempting to find what the ungodly say is necessary.
There are those who would tell our young people that the most important thing for them is to make a good living; however that is not true. We all want to have enough to make us comfortable materially, but a person must make provision for the spiritual before anything else in life. It is not wise to waste ones life in sin, planning in the declining years to then begin to seek the Lord.
The desire to know God and come to God may not be present in your life just a few years from now, so don’t count on that desire being active a few years in the future. You should come to Christ now while you can; while you have the longing to do so. What do young people really need?
(1) Young People Need The Way. So many today are wandering about aimlessly without real purpose and direction for their lives. I believe that young people are searching for something and do not really know what it is. Some of them think they need the pleasure way, the partying way, or the pandering way. What kind of way do they need?
-First, the spiritual way. God cannot be known through idols or the works of men’s hands; we come to know Him spiritually as we turn from sin and turn to the Lord Jesus Christ.
-Secondly, a singular way. Jesus made it crystal clear in Jn. 14:6 that He is–"The Way, the Truth, and the Life." Christ brings us into the only way that is truly meaningful.
-Thirdly, a satisfying way. Drugs, dope, and degenerate living will not bring complete satisfaction to ones life.
(2) Young People Need The Word. See Psalm 119:9.
-Primarily, the word of salvation. The Bible is a book of salvation from Gen.1:1 through Rev. 22. Jesus said we must be born again (John3:3).
-Secondly, the word of separation (2 Corinthians 6:17). Further, they need the word of the second coming of Christ ( John 14:3).
(3) Young People Need The Warnings. The warnings primarily have to do with sin.
-Tell them first, sin will deceive them.
-It does not stop there, but it goes on to seek to try to destroy them. Sin is not constructive, rather it is an extremely destructive force.
-Finally, they need to know that sin will deny them. It will deny God’s best to them.
There is a degree of temporal pleasure in sin, but it is only for a season. Be warned! Get what you need from God rather than attempting to find what the ungodly say is necessary.
Saturday, May 14, 2011
Explain God
This was a Christian School's 3rd Grad Homework Assignment
"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth."
"He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk, He can just leave that to mothers and fathers."
"God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime." "God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off."
"God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have."
"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Greenville. At least there aren't any who come to our church."
"Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him."
"But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said OK. His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore, He could stay in heaven. So He did."
"And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary only more important."
"You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the times."
"You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God."
"Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the mountains. This is wrong! And, besides, the sun doesn't come out at the mountains until noon anyway."
"If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can."
"It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids."
"But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases."
"And that's why I believe in God."
"One of God's main jobs is making people. He makes them to replace the ones that die so there will be enough people to take care of things on earth."
"He doesn't make grown-ups, just babies. I think because they are smaller and easier to make. That way, He doesn't have to take up His valuable time teaching them to talk and walk, He can just leave that to mothers and fathers."
"God's second most important job is listening to prayers. An awful lot of this goes on, since some people, like preachers and things, pray at times besides bedtime." "God doesn't have time to listen to the radio or TV because of this. Because He hears everything there must be a terrible lot of noise in His ears, unless He has thought of a way to turn it off."
"God sees everything and hears everything and is everywhere which keeps Him pretty busy. So you shouldn't go wasting His time by going over your mom and dad's head asking for something they said you couldn't have."
"Atheists are people who don't believe in God. I don't think there are any in Greenville. At least there aren't any who come to our church."
"Jesus is God's Son. He used to do all the hard work like walking on water and performing miracles and trying to teach the people who didn't want to learn about God. They finally got tired of Him preaching to them and they crucified Him."
"But He was good and kind like His Father and He told His Father that they didn't know what they were doing and to forgive them and God said OK. His Dad (God) appreciated everything that He had done and all His hard work on earth so He told Him He didn't have to go out on the road anymore, He could stay in heaven. So He did."
"And now He helps His Dad out by listening to prayers and seeing things which are important for God to take care of and which ones He can take care of Himself without having to bother God. Like a secretary only more important."
"You can pray anytime you want and they are sure to hear you because they got it worked out so one of them is on duty all the times."
"You should always go to Church on Sunday because it makes God happy, and if there's anybody you want to make happy, it's God."
"Don't skip church to do something you think will be more fun like going to the mountains. This is wrong! And, besides, the sun doesn't come out at the mountains until noon anyway."
"If you don't believe in God, besides being an atheist, you will be very lonely, because your parents can't go everywhere with you, like to camp, but God can."
"It is good to know He's around you when you're scared in the dark or when you can't swim very good and you get thrown into real deep water by big kids."
"But you shouldn't just always think of what God can do for you. I figure God put me here and He can take me back anytime He pleases."
"And that's why I believe in God."
Friday, May 13, 2011
Forgiveness
It is not uncommon for Christians to have questions about forgiveness. Forgiveness does not come easy for most of us. Our natural instinct is to recoil in self-protection when we've been injured. We don't naturally overflow with mercy, grace and forgiveness when we've been wronged.
Is forgiveness a conscious choice, a physical act involving the will, or is it a feeling, an emotional state of being? The Bible offers insight and answers to these and many more common questions about forgiveness. We'll take a look at the most common questions and find out what the Bible says about forgiveness.
Is forgiveness a conscious choice, or an emotional state?
I believe forgiveness is a choice we make through a decision of our will, motivated by obedience to God and his command to forgive.
The Bible instructs us to forgive as the Lord forgave us:
Colossians 3:13 "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."
How do we forgive when we don't feel like it? How do we translate the decision to forgive into a change of heart?
We forgive by faith, out of obedience. Since forgiveness goes against our nature, we must forgive by faith, whether we feel like it or not. We must trust God to do the work in us that needs to be done so that the forgiveness will be complete.
I believe God honors our commitment to obey Him and our desire to please him when we choose to forgive. He completes the work in his time. We must continue to forgive (our job), by faith, until the work of forgiveness (the Lord's job), is done in our hearts.
Philippians 1:6 "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns."
How will we know if we have truly forgiven?
We will know the work of forgiveness is complete when we experience the freedom that comes as a result. We are the ones who suffer most when we choose not to forgive. When we do forgive, the Lord sets our hearts free from the anger, bitterness, resentment and hurt that previously imprisoned us.
Most times, however, forgiveness is a slow process.
Matthew 18:21-22 "Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times."
This answer by Jesus makes it clear that forgiveness is not easy for us. It's not a one-time choice and then we automatically live in a state of forgiveness. Forgiveness may require a lifetime of forgiving, but it is important to the Lord. We must continue forgiving until the matter is settled in our heart.
What if the person we need to forgive is not a believer?
I have found that prayer is one of the best ways to break down the wall of unforgiveness in my heart. When I begin to pray for the person who has wronged me, God gives me new eyes to see and a new heart to care for that person. As I pray, I start to see that person as God sees them, and I realize that he or she is precious to the Lord. I also see myself in a new light, just as guilty of sin and failure as the other person. I too am in need of forgiveness. If God did not withhold his forgiveness from me, why should I withhold my forgiveness from another?
Is it okay to feel anger and want justice for the person we need to forgive?
This question presents another reason to pray for the person we need to forgive. We can pray for God to deal with the injustices, for God to judge the person's life, and then we can leave that prayer at the altar. We no longer have to carry the anger. Although it is normal for us to feel anger toward sin and injustice, it is not our job to judge the other person in their sin.
Luke 6:37 "Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven."
Why must we forgive?
The best reason to forgive is because Jesus commanded us to forgive. We learn from Scripture, if we don't forgive, neither will we be forgiven:
Matthew 6:14-16 "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."
We also forgive so that our prayers will not be hindered:
Mark 11:25 "And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins."
In closing, we forgive out of obedience to the Lord. It is a choice, a decision we make. However, as we do this "forgiving," we discover the command is in place for our own good, and we receive the reward of our forgiveness—freedom.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Unusual Job Applicant Behavior
A survey of top personnel executives of 100 major American corporations asking for stories of unusual behavior by job applicants revealed the following low-lights:
- "She wore a Walkman and said she could listen to me and the music at the same time."
- "... stretched out on the floor to fill out the job application."
- "A balding candidate abruptly excused himself. Returned to office a few minutes later, wearing a hairpiece."
- "... asked to see interviewer's resume to see if the personnel executive was qualified to judge the candidate."
- "... announced she hadn't had lunch and proceeded to eat a hamburger and french fries in the interviewer's office - wiping the ketchup on her sleeve"
- "Stated that, if he were hired, he would demonstrate his loyalty by having the corporate logo tattooed on his forearm."
- "Interrupted to phone his therapist for advice on answering specific interview questions."
- "When I asked him about his hobbies, he stood up and started tap dancing around my office."
- "At the end of the interview, while I stood there dumbstruck, went through his briefcase, took out a brush, brushed his hair, and left."
- "... pulled out a Polaroid camera and snapped a flash picture of me. Said he collected photos of everyone who interviewed him."
- "While I was on a long-distance phone call, the applicant took out a copy of Penthouse, and looked through the photos only, stopping longest at the centerfold."
- "During the interview, an alarm clock went off from the candidate's brief case. He took it out, shut it off, apologized and said he had to leave for another interview."
- "A telephone call came in for the job applicant. It was from his wife. His side of the conversation went like this: "'Which company? When do I start? What's the salary?' I said, 'I assume you're not interested in conducting the interview any further.' He promptly responded, 'I am as long as you'll pay me more.' I didn't hire him, but later found out there was no other job offer. It was a scam to get a higher offer."
- "His attache [case] opened when he picked it up and the contents spilled, revealing ladies' undergarments and assorted makeup and perfume."
- "Candidate said he really didn't want to get a job, but the unemployment office needed proof that he was looking for one."
- "... asked who the lovely babe was, pointing to the picture on my desk. When I said it was my wife, he asked if she was home now and wanted my phone number. I called security."
- "Pointing to a black case he carried into my office, he said that if he was not hired, the bomb would go off. Disbelieving, I began to state why he would never be hired and that I was going to call the police. He then reached down to the case, flipped a switch and ran. No one was injured, but I did need to get a new desk."
Wednesday, May 11, 2011
“What Place Do You Live In?”
Exodus 2:23-25 CEV “After the death of the king of Egypt
The story of God’s covenant people is the story of all of our spiritual lives. We meet this community located in Egypt Promise Land
Do you live in a spiritualEgypt
Do you live in a spiritual
In Egypt Egypt
How do you move out of that spiritual Egypt
-Instead of accepting that the situation will never change, cry out to the one who can change your situation. So many people have struggled to win in areas of their lives only to repeat failure. But with God nothing is impossible. There is no chain He cannot break and there is no mountain He cannot move.
-You will never leaveEgypt Egypt
-You will need a Spiritual Moses to lead you out ofEgypt Egypt Egypt
-Cry out to God because prayer will change things. First of all it will change us. Many times before God changes your situation, He first changes you.
- Stand on the God’s promise. God made a covenant with Abraham that He was going to keep. Realize God’s Word in your life. Stand on the promises of God. Don’t take no for an answer.
-Find people heading in spiritual directions and follow them. Not many people just find their way out ofEgypt
Desert–Deuteronomy 8:2–place of indecision, place of spiritual dryness, place of death. Forty years of going in circles, forty years on the wrong side ofJordan
-Instead of accepting that the situation will never change, cry out to the one who can change your situation. So many people have struggled to win in areas of their lives only to repeat failure. But with God nothing is impossible. There is no chain He cannot break and there is no mountain He cannot move.
-You will never leave
-You will need a Spiritual Moses to lead you out of
-Cry out to God because prayer will change things. First of all it will change us. Many times before God changes your situation, He first changes you.
- Stand on the God’s promise. God made a covenant with Abraham that He was going to keep. Realize God’s Word in your life. Stand on the promises of God. Don’t take no for an answer.
-Find people heading in spiritual directions and follow them. Not many people just find their way out of
Desert–Deuteronomy 8:2–place of indecision, place of spiritual dryness, place of death. Forty years of going in circles, forty years on the wrong side of
In our spiritual lives, we all have at times been in the desert places. It always seems there is a desert between Egypt
Indecision–many times it isn’t a terrible act of sin that keeps people from their blessings, but a lack of faith.
Israel didn’t miss Canaan because of the Golden calf rebellion, but because they told God it was impossible for them to get what He was giving.
Dryness–instead of milk and honey we many times choose sand. Sure God has big blessings for others, but for me and my house, we will go in circles. The saddest thing about the desert, is you can see the blessings but you don’t experience them.
Death–forty years, a lost generation. Today, I want to encourage you, God has more for your life than spiritual dirt. You don’t have to keep saying, here we go again. Same song, second verse. God can give you a new path, He can give you life over death.
Promise land–Deuteronomy 6:3- a land that flows with milk and honey. This is the place of spiritual abundance. It isn’t a promise for an elite few, but a promise for everyone who will enter in.
Indecision–many times it isn’t a terrible act of sin that keeps people from their blessings, but a lack of faith.
Dryness–instead of milk and honey we many times choose sand. Sure God has big blessings for others, but for me and my house, we will go in circles. The saddest thing about the desert, is you can see the blessings but you don’t experience them.
Death–forty years, a lost generation. Today, I want to encourage you, God has more for your life than spiritual dirt. You don’t have to keep saying, here we go again. Same song, second verse. God can give you a new path, He can give you life over death.
Promise land–Deuteronomy 6:3- a land that flows with milk and honey. This is the place of spiritual abundance. It isn’t a promise for an elite few, but a promise for everyone who will enter in.
How do you move into abundance?
a. You say not my generation–an entire generation died, and now this generation gets it’s chance. They say, we are tired of indecision, we are tired of dryness, we are tired of spiritual death. Sometimes you have got to get sick and tired of being sick and tired, to make the change.
b. You crossJordan –if you can cross the Red Sea, you can cross Jordan
c. You tear down walls–before you move into abundance, God will test your obedience. God could have torn down the walls in an instant at Jericho, Jericho didn’t prove God,Jericho proved Israel
d. Fight the giants–the deeper you go in God, the bigger the obstacles you will have to conquer. Here is the good news, the bigger the giant, the closer you are to your blessing.
a. You say not my generation–an entire generation died, and now this generation gets it’s chance. They say, we are tired of indecision, we are tired of dryness, we are tired of spiritual death. Sometimes you have got to get sick and tired of being sick and tired, to make the change.
b. You cross
c. You tear down walls–before you move into abundance, God will test your obedience. God could have torn down the walls in an instant at Jericho, Jericho didn’t prove God,
d. Fight the giants–the deeper you go in God, the bigger the obstacles you will have to conquer. Here is the good news, the bigger the giant, the closer you are to your blessing.
You have to choose abundance, it will not just choose you. God never gives anything that doesn’t require obedience and faith. It is a free gift, but without faith it will be impossible to please God.
Don’t be satisfied inEgypt
Don’t be satisfied in
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
How Do People Know You?
2 Corinthians 3:2 "Ye are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read of all men."
(1) Solomon was known for worldliness to Some, and wisdom to others.
He was a wise man in many ways, but he was also a worldly man. According to I Kings 11:3 he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines. The result of having so many wives turned his heart from the Lord. He became mindful of pleasure and possession. When anything comes before God there will be trouble.
(2) Abraham was known for faith to some and for falsehood to others.
The story in Genesis 12:11-20 tells it all. Abraham lied in this respect, he told Pharoah his wife, Sarah, was his sister. Some good folks lie, if there is enough pressure put upon them to do it. Colossians 3:9 states we are to "lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds." It pays to always tell the truth. God will bless the upright!
(3) Jonah was known for dedication to some and for disobedience to others.
He seemed to be dedicated to the people of Israel and hard hearted against their enemies. What we remember most about Jonah is how he ran from his spiritual responsibility (Jonah 1:3). His disobedience was more costly than imagined.
(4) Peter was known for devotedness to some and for denial to others.
Some remember repentant Peter preaching at Pentecost, while others remember his denial of the Lord as stated in Matthew 26:74.
(5) Judas was known for caring for money to some but for betraying Jesus to others.
He was the loyal treasurer of the disciples but turned Christ in to His enemies, betraying Him according to Matthew 26:21.
That's why God instructs us to do right that you may not be known for doing wrong! Yes, the Golden Rule still applies today and let's not forget it. If we do the wrong impression goes much farther than the right one.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Our Greatest Foe
The Bible says, in Proverbs 14:34, "Righteousness exalteth a nation: but sin is a reproach to any people."
If I were to ask you today, who is America’s greatest foe, how would you reply?
Some would name individuals, while others would name other nations around the world. There are some nations that would love to see the destruction of America and would regard themselves as our enemies. We can place the blame for our woes in many areas, but I believe if we are Biblical and perfectly honest, we would have to say that "sin" is the greatest foe we face in our nation or in any nation.
Sin falls into two catagories.
-First, there is failing to do what we should have done. That is a sin of omission.
-Secondly, there is a sin of commission , that is doing what we should not have done.
We can blame a lot of things on the politicians, but in all reality, our society is fouled up because of sin in one form or another. If we would deal with our sins, we could rise higher.
Three things will help us deal with our greatest enemy.
(1) We must face our own sins.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we seek to deny our sins exist, then they will continue to stand in our way in our nation. There are all kinds of sins we need to face. A person would have to be blind to not realize the reality of sin. The Bible says sin is a "reproach" to any people. Our nation is discredited when sin is laughed and mocked at by our people.
I cannot even begin to list the sins that have contributed to our downfall, but we'd better make sure we have owned up to our sins and dealt with them in confession.
(2) We must forsake our sins.
Proverbs 28:13 "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."
In that verse we are told if we cover our sins, we will not prosper, but on the other hand if we will forsake our sins, we will have mercy. The word "forsake" means "to depart from or leave behind." We are to leave our sins behind us and seek righteousness that our nation might be even greater.
(3) We must have faith in our Savior.
Mark 11:22 "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God."
I mean to put faith in the Lord for salvation and for everything else we need beyond that point. Put faith in Him for salvation, protection, and direction. It is time as a nation that we understand, although we do not know our future, we can trust a living God who knows and cares for us. You can have trust in Him because of His faithfulness and dependability.
If I were to ask you today, who is America’s greatest foe, how would you reply?
Some would name individuals, while others would name other nations around the world. There are some nations that would love to see the destruction of America and would regard themselves as our enemies. We can place the blame for our woes in many areas, but I believe if we are Biblical and perfectly honest, we would have to say that "sin" is the greatest foe we face in our nation or in any nation.
Sin falls into two catagories.
-First, there is failing to do what we should have done. That is a sin of omission.
-Secondly, there is a sin of commission , that is doing what we should not have done.
We can blame a lot of things on the politicians, but in all reality, our society is fouled up because of sin in one form or another. If we would deal with our sins, we could rise higher.
Three things will help us deal with our greatest enemy.
(1) We must face our own sins.
1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
If we seek to deny our sins exist, then they will continue to stand in our way in our nation. There are all kinds of sins we need to face. A person would have to be blind to not realize the reality of sin. The Bible says sin is a "reproach" to any people. Our nation is discredited when sin is laughed and mocked at by our people.
I cannot even begin to list the sins that have contributed to our downfall, but we'd better make sure we have owned up to our sins and dealt with them in confession.
(2) We must forsake our sins.
Proverbs 28:13 "He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy."
In that verse we are told if we cover our sins, we will not prosper, but on the other hand if we will forsake our sins, we will have mercy. The word "forsake" means "to depart from or leave behind." We are to leave our sins behind us and seek righteousness that our nation might be even greater.
(3) We must have faith in our Savior.
Mark 11:22 "And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God."
I mean to put faith in the Lord for salvation and for everything else we need beyond that point. Put faith in Him for salvation, protection, and direction. It is time as a nation that we understand, although we do not know our future, we can trust a living God who knows and cares for us. You can have trust in Him because of His faithfulness and dependability.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Things Moms Taught Their Daughters To Say
These familiar saying have somehow been handed down from mother to daugther right through the ages. How many of these did you grow up with?
-Who do you think you are?
-Ask your father (closely followed by "Ask your Mother")
-Bored! How can you be bored? I was never bored at your age.
-I'll treat you like an adult when you start acting like an adult!
-Look at me when I'm talking to you.
-Don't you roll your eyes at me!
-Don't pick it, it'll get infected.
-You'll put your eye out with that thing!
-I'm going to give you to the count to three.
-Don't put that thing in your mouth, you don't know where it's been.
-Wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident and have to go to hospital.
-Don't cross your eyes like that, one day they'll freeze that way
I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!
-Don't EVER let me catch you doing that again!
-Why? Because I SAID SO, that's why!?!
-If such and such jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?
-If I catch you doing that one more time, I'll...
-Your father is going to hear about THIS when he gets home!
-If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
-How many times do I have to tell you, don't throw things in the house!
-Do you think your clothes are going to pick themselves up?
-"I don't know" is NOT an answer!
-I know it's not fair. Life isn't fair.
Thanks Mom for all the advice...it's still working today.
-Who do you think you are?
-Ask your father (closely followed by "Ask your Mother")
-Bored! How can you be bored? I was never bored at your age.
-I'll treat you like an adult when you start acting like an adult!
-Look at me when I'm talking to you.
-Don't you roll your eyes at me!
-Don't pick it, it'll get infected.
-You'll put your eye out with that thing!
-I'm going to give you to the count to three.
-Don't put that thing in your mouth, you don't know where it's been.
-Wear clean underwear in case you get in an accident and have to go to hospital.
-Don't cross your eyes like that, one day they'll freeze that way
I don't care who started it, I'll finish it!
-Don't EVER let me catch you doing that again!
-Why? Because I SAID SO, that's why!?!
-If such and such jumped off a cliff, would you jump too?
-If I catch you doing that one more time, I'll...
-Your father is going to hear about THIS when he gets home!
-If you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all.
-How many times do I have to tell you, don't throw things in the house!
-Do you think your clothes are going to pick themselves up?
-"I don't know" is NOT an answer!
-I know it's not fair. Life isn't fair.
Thanks Mom for all the advice...it's still working today.
Friday, May 6, 2011
A True Story
A man stopped at a flower shop to order some flowers to be wired to his mother who lived two hundred miles away.
As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.
He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars."
The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose."
He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers.
As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother."
She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.
The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house.
As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.
He asked her what was wrong and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and a rose costs two dollars."
The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. I'll buy you a rose."
He bought the little girl her rose and ordered his own mother's flowers.
As they were leaving he offered the girl a ride home. She said, "Yes, please! You can take me to my mother."
She directed him to a cemetery, where she placed the rose on a freshly dug grave.
The man returned to the flower shop, canceled the wire order, picked up a bouquet and drove the two hundred miles to his mother's house.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Who Is It?
Who first loves and nurtures us and takes care of every need, as she accepts into her life someone new to bathe and feed?
Who brags about accomplishments; first teeth...first sounds...first smile and makes every little thing that's done
seem important and worthwhile?
Who's been known to, after dark enter a room and slowly creep to bend and kiss the forehead of a child fast asleep?
Who holds a hand while crossing as she thoughtfully conveys a reminder to her child that he should always "look both ways?"
Who wipes peanut butter off a cheek and crayon off the wall and knots an untied shoelace to avoid a likely fall?
Who watches the swift passing of childhood years that she will mourn, and remembers every small detail about the day that child was born?
Who works the longest hours without a vacation...or a check, but accepts her payment in the form of a hug around her neck?
Who never stops believing even when others are in doubt and defends the fact her child was "safe" when the umpire calls him out!?
Who senses things just aren't right and with the palm of her hand decrees by placing it on her child's brow...the fever's 101 degrees?
Who shares life's disappointments and feels the pain of all the bruises and delights in her child's winnings, but offers solace when he loses?
Who realizes as the years pass by... the further her child will roam and who stays up late with worry when that child isn't home?
Who tries to shield and protect by showing courage...staying strong; trying to set a good example while her heart is breaking all along?
Who acts as a private tutor as the years fall in succession by taking each opportunity to teach life's every lesson?
Who listens with her heart even when her child is grown and understands the feelings that she once herself, had known?
Who saved old cards and letters and kept pictures on the shelves and offered unconditional love so we could learn to love, ourselves?
This poem describes one person; a woman unlike any other, for who could possess that level of love...Who Else, But A Mother?
Who brags about accomplishments; first teeth...first sounds...first smile and makes every little thing that's done
seem important and worthwhile?
Who's been known to, after dark enter a room and slowly creep to bend and kiss the forehead of a child fast asleep?
Who holds a hand while crossing as she thoughtfully conveys a reminder to her child that he should always "look both ways?"
Who wipes peanut butter off a cheek and crayon off the wall and knots an untied shoelace to avoid a likely fall?
Who watches the swift passing of childhood years that she will mourn, and remembers every small detail about the day that child was born?
Who works the longest hours without a vacation...or a check, but accepts her payment in the form of a hug around her neck?
Who never stops believing even when others are in doubt and defends the fact her child was "safe" when the umpire calls him out!?
Who senses things just aren't right and with the palm of her hand decrees by placing it on her child's brow...the fever's 101 degrees?
Who shares life's disappointments and feels the pain of all the bruises and delights in her child's winnings, but offers solace when he loses?
Who realizes as the years pass by... the further her child will roam and who stays up late with worry when that child isn't home?
Who tries to shield and protect by showing courage...staying strong; trying to set a good example while her heart is breaking all along?
Who acts as a private tutor as the years fall in succession by taking each opportunity to teach life's every lesson?
Who listens with her heart even when her child is grown and understands the feelings that she once herself, had known?
Who saved old cards and letters and kept pictures on the shelves and offered unconditional love so we could learn to love, ourselves?
This poem describes one person; a woman unlike any other, for who could possess that level of love...Who Else, But A Mother?
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Funny Things Kids Write About Their Mother
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.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.
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.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger
parts.
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 use
string, I think.
Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.
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.
Why did God make mothers?
1. She's the only one who knows where the scotch tape is.
2. Mostly to clean the house.
3. To help us out of there when we were getting born.
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.
3. God made my Mom just the same like he made me. He just used bigger
parts.
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 use
string, I think.
Why did God give you your mother and not some other Mom?
1. We're related.
2. God knew she likes me a lot more than other people's moms like me.
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.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
The History of Mother's Day
Contrary to popular belief, Mother's Day was not conceived and fine-tuned in the boardroom of Hallmark. The earliest tributes to mothers date back to the annual spring festival the Greeks dedicated to Rhea, the mother of many deities, and to the offerings ancient Romans made to their Great Mother of Gods, Cybele. Christians celebrated this festival on the fourth Sunday in Lent in honor of Mary, mother of Christ. In England this holiday was expanded to include all mothers and was called Mothering Sunday.
In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day."
Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.
In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers."
Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.
At first, people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became enraged. She believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carnations for a war mother's group. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the mother's day tradition.
Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. In fact, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their highest traffic, as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honor and to express appreciation of their mothers
In the United States, Mother's Day started nearly 150 years ago, when Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by mothers. She called it "Mother's Work Day."
Fifteen years later, Julia Ward Howe, a Boston poet, pacifist, suffragist, and author of the lyrics to the "Battle Hymn of the Republic," organized a day encouraging mothers to rally for peace, since she believed they bore the loss of human life more harshly than anyone else.
In 1905 when Anna Jarvis died, her daughter, also named Anna, began a campaign to memorialize the life work of her mother. Legend has it that young Anna remembered a Sunday school lesson that her mother gave in which she said, "I hope and pray that someone, sometime, will found a memorial mother's day. There are many days for men, but none for mothers."
Anna began to lobby prominent businessmen like John Wannamaker, and politicians including Presidents Taft and Roosevelt to support her campaign to create a special day to honor mothers. At one of the first services organized to celebrate Anna's mother in 1908, at her church in West Virginia, Anna handed out her mother's favorite flower, the white carnation. Five years later, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution calling for officials of the federal government to wear white carnations on Mother's Day. In 1914 Anna's hard work paid off when Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother's Day as a national holiday.
At first, people observed Mother's Day by attending church, writing letters to their mothers, and eventually, by sending cards, presents, and flowers. With the increasing gift-giving activity associated with Mother's Day, Anna Jarvis became enraged. She believed that the day's sentiment was being sacrificed at the expense of greed and profit. In 1923 she filed a lawsuit to stop a Mother's Day festival, and was even arrested for disturbing the peace at a convention selling carnations for a war mother's group. Before her death in 1948, Jarvis is said to have confessed that she regretted ever starting the mother's day tradition.
Despite Jarvis's misgivings, Mother's Day has flourished in the United States. In fact, the second Sunday of May has become the most popular day of the year to dine out, and telephone lines record their highest traffic, as sons and daughters everywhere take advantage of this day to honor and to express appreciation of their mothers
Monday, May 2, 2011
“A Grandmother, A Mother, and Their Boy"
2 Timothy 1:5 KJV "When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also."
On this day that we honor mothers, its good for us to think about how much you really do. Being a mother is not a walk in the park…
-By the time a child reaches 18, a mother has had to handle some extra 18,000 hours of child-generated work. In fact, women who never have children enjoy the equivalent of an extra three months a year in leisure time!
-A Junior High science teacher lectured on the properties of magnets for an entire class. The next day he gave his students a quiz. The first question read like this: “My name begins with an “M,” has six letters, and I pick things up. What am I?” Half the kids in the class wrote, “Mother.”
-That reminds me of the father who was trying to explain the concept of marriage to his 4-year-old daughter. He got out their wedding album, thinking visual images would help, and explained the entire wedding service to her. When he was finished, he asked if she had any questions. She pointed to a picture of the wedding party and asked, “Daddy, is that when mommy came to work for us?
-I remember hearing this quote: “If daddy ain’t happy, who cares? If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson has said, “Men are what their mothers make them” and an old Spanish proverb says, “An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.”
(1) There are some great portraits of motherhood in Scripture:
-the mother of Moses who cared so much for her son that she broke the law in order to teach him the faith of his people.
On this day that we honor mothers, its good for us to think about how much you really do. Being a mother is not a walk in the park…
-By the time a child reaches 18, a mother has had to handle some extra 18,000 hours of child-generated work. In fact, women who never have children enjoy the equivalent of an extra three months a year in leisure time!
-A Junior High science teacher lectured on the properties of magnets for an entire class. The next day he gave his students a quiz. The first question read like this: “My name begins with an “M,” has six letters, and I pick things up. What am I?” Half the kids in the class wrote, “Mother.”
-That reminds me of the father who was trying to explain the concept of marriage to his 4-year-old daughter. He got out their wedding album, thinking visual images would help, and explained the entire wedding service to her. When he was finished, he asked if she had any questions. She pointed to a picture of the wedding party and asked, “Daddy, is that when mommy came to work for us?
-I remember hearing this quote: “If daddy ain’t happy, who cares? If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson has said, “Men are what their mothers make them” and an old Spanish proverb says, “An ounce of mother is worth a pound of clergy.”
(1) There are some great portraits of motherhood in Scripture:
-the mother of Moses who cared so much for her son that she broke the law in order to teach him the faith of his people.
-the sacrificial love of the mother who appeared before King Solomon and told him that she was willing to have her son taken away by another woman rather than see any harm come to him.
-the mother of James and John who loved her boys so much that she wanted them to sit by the Lord’s side in the heavenly kingdom.
-the mother of King Lemuel, who gave some advice to her son about godly living and how to pick a good wife, in Proverbs 31.
(2) I’m also aware that Mother’s Day is a difficult time for some of you:
-Maybe you want to be a mother but you can’t be for some reason.
-Perhaps some of you have not had the best mother in the world.
-Some of you have had a mother who has already gone into eternity.
-Some of you mothers have lost a child to death.
-Some of you mothers feel the pain of a wayward child this morning
-Some of you are flying solo as you work hard to nurture your child’s faith without the aid of your companion.
(2) I’m also aware that Mother’s Day is a difficult time for some of you:
-Maybe you want to be a mother but you can’t be for some reason.
-Perhaps some of you have not had the best mother in the world.
-Some of you have had a mother who has already gone into eternity.
-Some of you mothers have lost a child to death.
-Some of you mothers feel the pain of a wayward child this morning
-Some of you are flying solo as you work hard to nurture your child’s faith without the aid of your companion.
I believe a mother or a grandmother can make a significant spiritual impact on her children or grandchildren with or without a positive male influence in their lives.
(3) A Grandmother, a Mother, and Their Boy.
Eunice was raised in a religious home and was greatly impacted by her mother Lois. She loved to learn the stories from the Bible when she was young and enjoyed going to services where she could learn about God. As she approached her teenage years, she was still focused on spiritual matters but she became attracted to a young man who was not into religion at all. Against the best wishes of her godly mother, the teaching of her faith, and the tug of her conscience, she married the man. Don’t get me wrong he was a nice guy but thought spiritual matters were for weak people.
After a couple years of marriage, Eunice and her husband had a baby boy who they named Timothy. In the meantime, Eunice’s dad had died so they asked her mother Lois to come and live with them. Timothy was a delight to everyone. Both his mother and grandmother spent hours with him, teaching him the stories of the Old Testament, praying with him and for him, and training him in the things of God. They created a spiritual environment where tiny Tim could flourish.
Then, one day, a preacher named Paul came to their town ofLystra
Later, Paul and Timothy partner together in ministry as the gospel continues to spread throughout the area. Many years later, while Paul is in prison, awaiting his execution, he writes two letters to young Timothy. These letters contain some teaching about how Timothy should behave as a church leader and are also filled with some reminiscing and nostalgia on Paul’s part. As Paul writes these letters, that we know as 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, he reflects on the mothers who made an impact in Tim’s life.
With that as background, I’m going to draw from three different passages of Scripture two of which are found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy -- to show how a mother and a grandmother -- can make a significant spiritual impact on her children with or without the help of a father.
(3) A Grandmother, a Mother, and Their Boy.
Eunice was raised in a religious home and was greatly impacted by her mother Lois. She loved to learn the stories from the Bible when she was young and enjoyed going to services where she could learn about God. As she approached her teenage years, she was still focused on spiritual matters but she became attracted to a young man who was not into religion at all. Against the best wishes of her godly mother, the teaching of her faith, and the tug of her conscience, she married the man. Don’t get me wrong he was a nice guy but thought spiritual matters were for weak people.
After a couple years of marriage, Eunice and her husband had a baby boy who they named Timothy. In the meantime, Eunice’s dad had died so they asked her mother Lois to come and live with them. Timothy was a delight to everyone. Both his mother and grandmother spent hours with him, teaching him the stories of the Old Testament, praying with him and for him, and training him in the things of God. They created a spiritual environment where tiny Tim could flourish.
Then, one day, a preacher named Paul came to their town of
Later, Paul and Timothy partner together in ministry as the gospel continues to spread throughout the area. Many years later, while Paul is in prison, awaiting his execution, he writes two letters to young Timothy. These letters contain some teaching about how Timothy should behave as a church leader and are also filled with some reminiscing and nostalgia on Paul’s part. As Paul writes these letters, that we know as 1 Timothy and 2 Timothy, he reflects on the mothers who made an impact in Tim’s life.
With that as background, I’m going to draw from three different passages of Scripture two of which are found in Paul’s second letter to Timothy -- to show how a mother and a grandmother -- can make a significant spiritual impact on her children with or without the help of a father.
(4) Instill a Respect for Scripture!
The first way a mother can do this is by instilling within her children a respect for Scripture.
The first way a mother can do this is by instilling within her children a respect for Scripture.
2 Timothy 3:14, 15 KJV "But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus."
Paul urges Timothy to hang tough when the tough times come. Timothy not only learned things cognitively, he made a practice of owning what he studied by becoming convinced of its truthfulness. He didn’t just fill his head with truth but internalized it and then lived it out. I think Timothy did this because he saw it modeled in his mother, in his grandmother, and in Paul himself.
In the manner of devout Israelites, Grandmother Lois and mother Eunice taught the Holy Scriptures to Timothy from the very beginning.
In essence, they lived out the commands of Deuteronomy 6:4-7:
In the manner of devout Israelites, Grandmother Lois and mother Eunice taught the Holy Scriptures to Timothy from the very beginning.
In essence, they lived out the commands of Deuteronomy 6:4-7:
“Hear, O Israel
These two mothers had God’s Word in their hearts. Because they had internalized the truth into their own lives, they could impress it upon young Timothy by talking about it throughout the day, showing him how the Scriptures should impact every area of life.
(5) Instill an Authentic Faith!
The second way to make an impact in the lives of your children is by instilling within them an authentic faith. We see this in 2 Timothy 1:5:
These two mothers had God’s Word in their hearts. Because they had internalized the truth into their own lives, they could impress it upon young Timothy by talking about it throughout the day, showing him how the Scriptures should impact every area of life.
(5) Instill an Authentic Faith!
The second way to make an impact in the lives of your children is by instilling within them an authentic faith. We see this in 2 Timothy 1:5:
“When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.”
Even though Lois and Eunice were believers, Timothy needed to come to a point in which he put his faith in Christ. Faith is not hereditary, it is learned. At the same time, when mothers model genuine faith, an environment is set up whereby children will be motivated to want that same kind of faith.
The word, “sincere” related to faith means that it was “un-hypocritical.” It was real, without any pretense or false façade. Faith had come and taken up residence in his mother’s heart and in his grandmother’s heart and was now alive in his own life. These two mothers were completely sold out to Christ. They were drop-dead serious about their faith. They were fully devoted and completely committed. And Timothy knew it. No one knows better than a child whether a parent’s faith is genuine.
Moms, if you want to instill authentic faith in your children then you better take your own faith seriously. If you’re just going through the motions spiritually your kids will eventually see it, and tragically, may do the same thing when they are older. As you demonstrate your faith consistently by reading the Bible, praying, attending worship, bringing your kids to programs that help them grow spiritually, and by participating in the life and mission of the church, you will send a strong message to your children.
While it isn’t in the text, a mother who passes along a faith that is authentic is without a doubt a praying woman. Any home in which faith is passed on from generation to generation has to be a home of prayer. One cannot imagine Lois not praying for Eunice or Eunice not praying for Timothy. Timothy’s family environment was fertile to his faith development. Both his mother and his grandmother held their faith deeply and shared it freely. How fertile is the environment in your family for the reproduction and the nurturing of authentic faith in the lives of your children and grandchildren? Mothers, are you passing along a legacy of authentic faith to your kids?
(6) Instill a Desire to Minister!
The third way to impact your children is to instill within them a desire to minister. After Paul preached in Lystra, and Timothy was converted, he returned a short while later. Let’s pick up the story in Acts 16:1-3:
Even though Lois and Eunice were believers, Timothy needed to come to a point in which he put his faith in Christ. Faith is not hereditary, it is learned. At the same time, when mothers model genuine faith, an environment is set up whereby children will be motivated to want that same kind of faith.
The word, “sincere” related to faith means that it was “un-hypocritical.” It was real, without any pretense or false façade. Faith had come and taken up residence in his mother’s heart and in his grandmother’s heart and was now alive in his own life. These two mothers were completely sold out to Christ. They were drop-dead serious about their faith. They were fully devoted and completely committed. And Timothy knew it. No one knows better than a child whether a parent’s faith is genuine.
Moms, if you want to instill authentic faith in your children then you better take your own faith seriously. If you’re just going through the motions spiritually your kids will eventually see it, and tragically, may do the same thing when they are older. As you demonstrate your faith consistently by reading the Bible, praying, attending worship, bringing your kids to programs that help them grow spiritually, and by participating in the life and mission of the church, you will send a strong message to your children.
While it isn’t in the text, a mother who passes along a faith that is authentic is without a doubt a praying woman. Any home in which faith is passed on from generation to generation has to be a home of prayer. One cannot imagine Lois not praying for Eunice or Eunice not praying for Timothy. Timothy’s family environment was fertile to his faith development. Both his mother and his grandmother held their faith deeply and shared it freely. How fertile is the environment in your family for the reproduction and the nurturing of authentic faith in the lives of your children and grandchildren? Mothers, are you passing along a legacy of authentic faith to your kids?
(6) Instill a Desire to Minister!
The third way to impact your children is to instill within them a desire to minister. After Paul preached in Lystra, and Timothy was converted, he returned a short while later. Let’s pick up the story in Acts 16:1-3:
“He came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was a Jewess and a believer, but whose father was a Greek. The brothers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey…”
I see three qualities in Timothy that were no doubt passed down from his mother, and his grandmother:
- First of all, he was a strong believer. He is referred to as a disciple.
I see three qualities in Timothy that were no doubt passed down from his mother, and his grandmother:
- First of all, he was a strong believer. He is referred to as a disciple.
-Second, he had a good reputation. The believers in the area spoke well of him. People knew him as a man of integrity and as a man of the Word. He was rock solid. Again, this had a lot to do with his mother and grandmother.
-Third, he was available. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey. As you continue to read the Book of Acts, you’ll see that Timothy was eager to minister. He knew it meant leaving home and he knew it meant facing hardship. Friends, there is no way this kind of commitment to ministry develops if it has not been encouraged at home.
When Paul stopped in Lystra for this second time, he enlisted Timothy to be his special assistant to replace John Mark. Paul refers to Timothy as his “beloved son” in 1 Corinthians 4:17 and in 1 Timothy 1:2, he calls him his “own son in the faith.” In Philippians 2:20, Paul can’t think of anyone like Timothy when he writes: “I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare.” Paul thought very highly of Timothy and couldn’t wait to unleash him for ministry.
Mothers, part of your job is to instill a respect for the Bible, another responsibility is to instill an authentic faith. But these two elements are only preliminary for the most important job you have that of instilling within your children a desire to minister. Our kids are to learn the Bible and grow in their faith so that they can become difference-makers in their world. So they can share their faith with others. So they can minister in the church and in their school. So they can serve those who are hurting. So they can serve as missionaries. So they can identify their spiritual gifts and use them on a regular basis. The truth of the matter is this: we are saved in order to serve. We are to be disciples so that we can disciple others. We are equipped so that we can evangelize. We are sanctified so that we can be sent to a lost and dying world.
Susannah Wesley, mother of 17, two of which were John and Charles Wesley, spent one hour each day praying for her children. In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour each week to discuss spiritual matters. No wonder her children were used of God to bring blessing to all ofEngland and much of America
I want to applaud you mothers who take the task seriously of making a spiritual impact in the lives of your children. As Proverbs 31:28 says, “Her children arise and call her blessed…” I stand here this morning and call you blessed and give thanks for pouring your lives into ours.
Proverbs 31:30 says that, “a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” We praise God for those mothers who worship and adore the Lord and who pass this legacy on to their children.
-Third, he was available. Paul wanted to take him along on the journey. As you continue to read the Book of Acts, you’ll see that Timothy was eager to minister. He knew it meant leaving home and he knew it meant facing hardship. Friends, there is no way this kind of commitment to ministry develops if it has not been encouraged at home.
When Paul stopped in Lystra for this second time, he enlisted Timothy to be his special assistant to replace John Mark. Paul refers to Timothy as his “beloved son” in 1 Corinthians 4:17 and in 1 Timothy 1:2, he calls him his “own son in the faith.” In Philippians 2:20, Paul can’t think of anyone like Timothy when he writes: “I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare.” Paul thought very highly of Timothy and couldn’t wait to unleash him for ministry.
Mothers, part of your job is to instill a respect for the Bible, another responsibility is to instill an authentic faith. But these two elements are only preliminary for the most important job you have that of instilling within your children a desire to minister. Our kids are to learn the Bible and grow in their faith so that they can become difference-makers in their world. So they can share their faith with others. So they can minister in the church and in their school. So they can serve those who are hurting. So they can serve as missionaries. So they can identify their spiritual gifts and use them on a regular basis. The truth of the matter is this: we are saved in order to serve. We are to be disciples so that we can disciple others. We are equipped so that we can evangelize. We are sanctified so that we can be sent to a lost and dying world.
Susannah Wesley, mother of 17, two of which were John and Charles Wesley, spent one hour each day praying for her children. In addition, she took each child aside for a full hour each week to discuss spiritual matters. No wonder her children were used of God to bring blessing to all of
I want to applaud you mothers who take the task seriously of making a spiritual impact in the lives of your children. As Proverbs 31:28 says, “Her children arise and call her blessed…” I stand here this morning and call you blessed and give thanks for pouring your lives into ours.
Proverbs 31:30 says that, “a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.” We praise God for those mothers who worship and adore the Lord and who pass this legacy on to their children.
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