Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5:25

As a young lad I loved music and began playing the piano and organ at an early age. Later I switched to the clarinet and then the saxophone, which I played in the high school band. I played second part. Another young lady also loved music and played first part clarinet. We fell in love.

That was sixty-one years ago and we have been making harmony together ever since, though she has never forgotten to occasionally remind me that she played first part and I played second. I have to remind her of Leonard Burstein’s famous quote “The hardest part to play in the orchestra is second violin, because without second part, there is no harmony.”

There were two things we learned in the band:

1. Make sure your instrument is in tune.

2. Stay in sync with the conductor.

Those are spiritual lessons as well. The goal is to always be tuned in to God and paying attention; listening so that if he has something specific for us to say or do, we can hear it and act appropriately. We want to know what God is up to in the situation and be able to respond accordingly so he can do his will through us.

You can bring your spiritual life into alignment by asking God to inspect your heart. Cry out to Him. Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. He is sure to answer, as He’s always been right there beside you, watching and waiting even if you can’t see or feel Him near.

The moment we receive Christ, we step into a lifetime journey—a journey where we continually grow in right behavior. Little by little, day after day, our behavior improves. But it is vitally important that before you try to change your behavior, you know who you are in Christ. You must know that God loves you first.

Not only does He approve of you, He delights in you (see Psalm 18:19)! You need to get that so deeply rooted within your heart that nothing can ever take it from you.

When you’re rooted in God’s love, He’s going to help you stand up in faith and start walking. But you can’t go ahead of Him just like you can’t get ahead of the orchestra conductor, trying to do good works on your own. You have to know the Word. And it’s not easy to get the Word in you.

Is your life in sync and in tune with God?

***

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Some time ago in a door-to-door survey, a suburban Chicago church asked people in their community, “If you don’t go to church, why?

The five biggest reasons: 1) Boring, 2) Irrelevant, 3) Asking for money all the time, 4) I’m too busy already, 5) I feel awkward at church.

These ambivalent, indifferent, and apathetic, and accusatory attitudes are not just confined to non-attendees. Unfortunately, some who attend regularly and are identified as “members of the church” are less than enthusiastic about worship. At least, you could draw that conclusion by observing their body language, lack of involvement, and critical comments.

Psalm 122:1 expresses the feeling we each ought to possess whenever we attend worship. “I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.” The Preacherman

— o —

Bill Maher is a social commentator, comedian, actor, and TV Host, who’s highly critical of religion. Several years ago he wrote and starred in a documentary entitled “Religulous”, a combination of the words “religious” and “ridiculous.”

Maher once described Christians as having a neurological disorder that keeps them from thinking. “Religion to me is a bureaucracy between man and God that I don’t need, Maher boldly claimed. “But I’m not an atheist, no. I believe there’s some force. If you want to call it God… I don’t believe God is a single parent who writes books.”

Bill Maher represents the thinking of an unbelieving world hostile to Christians, critical of Christianity and who speaks disparagingly of the Bible.

There’s probably not a whole lot we can say to convince those of Maher’s ilk otherwise. However, we can encourage one another to remain faithful, stand firm in the faith, and continue to shine as lights in a crooked and corrupt world. The Preacherman

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Everyone’s weird. Some just hide it better. Anonymous

God’s silence doesn’t always mean “no.”

Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, “What’s in it for me?”

BRIAN TRACY

Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention. JIM ROHN

The fraying of America’s fabric is fast becoming a national obsession. Adrian Rogers

Build a dream and the dream will build you. ROBERT H. SCHULLER

God will never call you to do anything that He will not enable you to do. Dan Shock

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become reality. EARL NIGHTINGALE

Thank God we can’t escape His presence. Dan Shock

When you die you will spend eternity in heaven or hell and eternity is a long time. Ken Whitten

If the axe is dull and he does not sharpen its edge, then he must exert more strength. Wisdom has the advantage of giving success. Ecclesiastes 10:10

In my younger days, I chopped firewood, I used an axe. Then, “God” invented the chain saw and I could cut more wood and cut it faster, but like the axe, with time it didn’t cut so well. I found out that even with all its power, even a chain saw became dull. A dull ax means harder work. Being wise will make it easier.

The lesson I learned is that no matter what cutting instrument one uses, with time it becomes dull and ineffective. Our Christian faith is like that. To be sharp, we have to stay sharp and the Bible tells us how.

God said to sharpen your sword by placing the Word of God in you! (Ephesians 6:17). To me there is nothing more sad than a powerless Christian with a dull sword.

The story is told of a newly hired lumberjack who felled more trees on his first day than anyone else. By the fourth day, however, his output had fallen so far that his supervisor asked him what was wrong.

The man said, “I don’t understand. I’m working even harder than before but cutting less timber.” The supervisor asked the lumberjack how often he sharpened his ax. He replied, “I have too many trees to cut — I don’t have time to sharpen my ax.”

As believer’s we seem to have a built-in God given ability to sharpen ourselves and each other as we utilize the tools and relationships that God has given us such as:

▪ A growing relationship with The Lord.

▪ Abiding in, reading, studying and living out God’s Word.

▪ Being active in prayer.

▪ Allowing The Holy Spirit to work in your life.

▪ Growing with The Body of Christ doing life together as each of us play our individual parts as part of The Body serving God and each other.

God has given us all the tools and resources we need and as we actively utilize these tools and people God has placed in our lives no matter through times of trial or times of peace, we will continue to be sharpened.

As we do life together, God allows friction to take place and with this friction we should become sharpened as the dull edges we have in our lives are smoothed away.

Are you keeping your axe sharp?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

BE STILL:

Author, educator and theologian, Howard Thurman, once told a story about one of his university students, a deep-sea diver, who wrote about his experience on the ocean floor.

Discovering a coral rock garden, he sat down to look around. First, a single fish swam up to look at him. Then more and more fish were swimming around him. Soon, the garden became more intense. More vivid. More colorful. Plants opened revealing their blossoms.

After sitting there a long while, he began to swim away and suddenly the flowers and fish disappeared. They were living things that only emerged when there was stillness.

Glenn Pease who related Thurman’s story observed that the diver realized that if you come thrashing and splashing into such a garden you would never experience its full beauty. “He learned that there are marvelous things you will never see unless you sit in silence.”

We’re reminded of this truth in Psalm 46:10. “Be still, and know that I am God.”

In a culture of endless hustle and bustle. With 24-hour cable news being piped into our homes. With music blaring everywhere. With the sound of traffic and horns beeping. Cell phones ringing. Children yelling. And endless chatter all around us. Silence becomes a sweet respite.

This verse reminds us there is a time to tune out the noise and tune in to God. We all need periods of sanctified silence. Preacherman

— o —

Florida is second nationally for Alzheimer’s, and expected to grow 24 percent by 2025.

— o —

A 21st century Jewish Rabbi shared this striking statement about the power of words:

“Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively use words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.”

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Give whatever you are doing and whoever you are with the gift of your attention.” JIM ROHN

The fraying of America’s fabric is fast becoming a national obsession. Adrian Rogers

Build a dream and the dream will build you.” ROBERT H. SCHULLER

God will never call you to do anything that He will not enable you to do. Dan Shock

Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. He is rich who owns the day, and no one owns the day who allows it to be invaded with fret and anxiety.” RALPH WALDO EMERSON

Whatever we plant in our subconscious mind and nourish with repetition and emotion will one day become reality.” EARL NIGHTINGALE

Thank God we can’t escape His presence. Dan Shock

When you die you will spend eternity in heaven or hell and eternity is a long time. Ken Whitten

God doesn’t want you to worship or serve Him out of pressure or emotional frenzy. Dan Shock

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness.” NAPOLEON HILL

The seed that fell among the thorns represents those who hear God’s word, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the worries of this life and the lure of wealth, so no fruit is produced. Matthew 13:22

On a recent drive through the mountains in the Blue Ridge, I saw how much it had grown since the last time I was there, a lot. It is known as the plant that is eating the south. Kudzu was introduced from Japan to the United States at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876 as an ornamental and a forage crop plant. The Civilian Conservation Corps and southern farmers planted kudzu to reduce soil erosion. Big mistake.

Kudzu has trailing and climbing, hairy stem that grow at speed of one foot per day. One root produces up to 30 vines that can reach length of 60 feet per season. It covers and smothers out underlying vegetation. It is truly an invasive species. It starts out small and gets bigger…. and bigger.

I am reminded of Genesis 4, the first time “sin” is mentioned in the Bible. God tells Cain: “Sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6-7). In essence, God is saying that He did not create us to sin, but from that time forward, sin has crept into our lives, like kudzu, smothering what lies below.

We believe that we are in control and have mastery over the dark impulses of our hearts. We see our sin as a little kitten that is easy to handle, rather than a man-eater.

This portrait of sin is taken up repeatedly through the Bible.

• Sin is compared to weeds that grow and choke the power of God’s word in our souls (Matt 13:22).

• Sin is compared to a little spark that can start a whole forest fire (James 3:5).

• It is compared to deadly gangrene that can spread through a whole church (2 Tim 2:17).

• Sin is compared to leaven, which is similar to our modern understanding of yeast. The smallest pinch of yeast will take over a lump of dough as big as the world, given enough time. “A little leaven, leavens the whole lump.” (I Cor. 5:6, Gal 5:9)

Don’t let sin be the “kudzu” of your life. Don’t let it choke out the God created goodness that lies below.

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

LESSONS ON LIGHT:

Travel light

Live the light

Be the light

Spread the light

— o —

In his book, Hell’s Best Kept Secret, Ray Comfort relates a tragic story about a woman who was once walking along a riverbank with her child. Suddenly the child slipped into the river. The mother screamed in terror. She couldn’t swim, plus she was in the latter stages of pregnancy. Finally, somebody heard her screaming and rushed down to the riverbank.

The utter tragedy was, when they stepped into those murky waters to retrieve that now dead child, they found that the water was only waist-deep! That mother could have easily saved her child but didn’t because of a lack of knowledge.

As heartbreaking as that story is, how much more tragic is it to see those drowning in sin when knowledge of God’s life-saving Truth is within their grasp.

— o —

Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it. It requires a conscious decision because it is a countercultural lifestyle that stands against the culture of overconsumption that surrounds us.

The world we live in is not friendly to the pursuit of minimalism. Its tendencies and relentless advertising campaigns call us to acquire more, better, faster, and newer. The journey of finding simplicity requires consistent inspiration.

— o —

Daniel Webster, the 19th-century statesman, and orator was known for his quick wit. The story’s told that his way with words was evidenced early in childhood.

One day Webster’s father, who was leaving on a short trip, left Daniel and his brother Ezekiel specific work instructions. But on his return, he found the task still undone, and questioned his sons about their idleness.

“What have you been doing, Ezekiel?” he asked. “Nothing, sir.” “Well, Daniel, what have you been doing?” “Helping Zeke, sir.”

Trust in the Lord with all your heart… He will make your paths straight. Proverbs 3:5-6

As I stood on the observation deck of the Miraflores Lock, I was amazed at the volume of cargo that passes through the Panama Canal. Stretched out in the Pacific as far as I could see were dozens of ships, each holding hundreds of containers.

I watched as ships entered the locks before being lifted fifty-four feet. Once in the lock there is but a couple of feet on each side and at each end. The ships don’t enter on their own power, but rather at each end on each side a steel rope is dropped to a small engine and attached. The small engines are referred to as “mules” and together they pull the ship into the lock. Each runs on a railroad track held down by spikes.

A typical ship fully loaded transiting the canal weighs up to 220,000 tons, so you can imagine the strength needed for the pull and the importance of the spikes that hold the tracks in place.

In my office I have an old spike from the original Panama Canal Railway. I keep it there to remind me how important it is to keep my tracks on the right path.

There is a parallel with living our life. Each day there are powers, strong powers, that attempt to pull us off of the path God intends up to be on. Proverbs (3:5-6) gives us a simple formula…. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. So, as you begin each day and put your feet on the floor, imagine you are on the path for the day, knowing there are many forces prepared to pull you off track. Know that it is God’s Word that holds you on course.

What holds your tracks down?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

SEX SINCE THE SIXTIES:

Tragically, our culture is rejecting God’s intention for sex more than ever before. Adultery is celebrated in popular television shows, music, and movies. Sex before marriage and cohabitation are assumed. Abortion is viewed as birth control. Pornography is at epidemic levels. Not to mention the escalation and promotion of LGBTQ ideology beginning with our children.

This culture-wide normalization of immorality is working:

• 69 percent of Americans say sex between an unmarried man and woman is morally acceptable, up 16 points since 2002.

• 42 percent believe sex between teenagers is morally acceptable.

• 43 percent say pornography is morally acceptable.

• 19 percent view polygamy as morally acceptable (up from 5 percent in 2006).

• A record 47 percent of Americans think abortion is morally acceptable.

• 70 percent support same-sex marriage.

Now let’s ask Dr. Phil’s question: “How’s that working for us?”

Since the sexual revolution began in the 1960s:

• The youth suicide rate is the highest it has been since the government began collecting such data in 1960.

• The percentage of children born out of wedlock has escalated from 8 percent in 1962 to 40 percent today. The odds that children in single-parent homes will live in poverty are high.

• Studies show that as many as half of all divorces involve one party using pornography. Even for those who stay married, pornography sabotages their ability to enjoy normal sexual relations.

• More than 62 million babies have been killed by abortion since Roe v. Wade. Abortion is the leading cause of death in America, surpassing heart disease, cancer, and all other cause.

Jim Denison

— o —

Work is hectic. Schedules are hectic. The kids are hectic… almost all of life can be very hectic. Your home shouldn’t be.

Your home should be the antidote to stress. It ought to be a place of rest, respite, and relaxation.

Home is a place of rest and peace and acceptance so we can live our best lives out in the world making the biggest difference that we possibly can. That is why having a calm and rejuvenating home is so important.

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Some people come into your life as blessings. Other people come into your life as lessons. MOTHER TERESA

There is a destiny which makes us brothers; none goes his way alone. All that we send into the lives of others comes back into our own. EDWIN MARKHAM

If we become stronger thru adversity, why do we fight so hard to avoid it? I guess that’s what it means to be human. Dwight Short

I know of no more encouraging fact than the unquestionable ability of man to elevate his life by conscious endeavor. HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.”

SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES

If you submit to Him, you will gradually begin to see the shape God is forming in you. Dan Shock

Your mind will take the shape of what you frequently hold in thought, for the human spirit is colored by such impressions.”

MARCUS AURELIUS

A stranger is someone we have not taken the time to meet and get to know; a friend is a former stranger that we somehow met and got to know them despite the fact that we now know they have foibles just like we do. Dwight Short

May we think of freedom not as the right to do as we please, but the opportunity to do what is right. Peter Marshall

When things aren’t adding up in your life, start subtracting.” —Anonymous

Successful people are simply those with successful habits. BRIAN TRACY

In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16

You can’t emerge with dry eyes. It is an awesome experience. I have done it about a dozen times and each experience is like a new one. It’s located on Mount Herzi near Jerusalem and is next to the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.

The Monument to the Children. It was erected in 1987 in remembrance of children killed during the reign of the Nazi Party in the German Reich.

In the memorial’s entrance area, there are several white, broken-off stelae of different heights as a symbol for the lives broken off by the Nazis.

The main room of the memorial is completely mirrored and reflects the light of five candles. The reflection of these lights produces the illusion of space, which symbolizes the approximately 1.5 million children and young people who died during the Holocaust. As spectators move through the room in the sparse light of the candles, as names of the deceased children and adolescents, with their age and place of death, are recited by a looped tape recording. The recording takes about three months to list all the casualties.

The placement of the candles and the prisms creates thousands of reproductions and from those five candles, when you stand in the memorial you see endless blazes of light, each a memorial to a fallen child. It is an awesome experience.

Jesus spoke of light in the Sermon on the Mount where he admonished his followers to let their light shine before others that they could see good works and in turn shine for others.

In the same way, that light should not be hidden, but should light up the room, or city on a hill cannot be hidden, we are to let our light shine. There is no reason that anyone should not be able to tell that you are a Christian.

Jesus says that what should be seen are the good deeds that we perform. Jesus’ instruction is to take on His identity in His Father in Heaven. God intends for the world to be able to see Him by His reflection in His people.

Does the light of your life and living shine for Christ?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Several news outlets reported this week about a Belgian farmer, apparently annoyed by a stone that had been in his tractor’s way, decided to move it 7-8 feet away from his field.

No big deal? Not newsworthy? Well, that stone was a 200-year-old border marker between Belgium and France. In addition to slightly enlarging his own property, “he made Belgium bigger and France smaller; it’s not a good idea,” said David Lavaux, mayor of the Belgian village of Erquelinnes.

Two Frenchmen who regularly walk the border checking boundary markers against a map showing their exact location discovered the displaced stone last month. “All the markers are typically placed in a very precise manner, but this one was raised up on higher ground. It just looked strange,” said Jean-Pierre Chopin, one of the two men who walk the border checking the markers against a map showing their location.

Although the stone had 1819 carved into its face, it’s not clear if the farmer knew the significance of the stone. Regardless, he will be receiving a letter to move the stone back to its original location or face criminal charges.

The story reminds me of an Old Testament command in Proverbs 22:28. “Do not move the ancient landmark that your fathers have set.”

God gave ancient Israel specific instructions regarding boundaries when they entered the promised land. Canaan was divided into tribal territories. Their boundaries were usually identified by a stone marker. Also, individual properties were identified similarly.

Moses issued this edict to Israel just before they entered Canaan. “You shall not remove your neighbor’s landmark, which the men of old have set, in your inheritance which you will inherit in the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess” (Deut. 19:14).

It was later followed up with this warning and the people’s response. “Cursed is the one who moves his neighbor’s landmark.’ “And all the people shall say, ‘Amen!’ (Deut. 27:17)

Succeeding generations were to respect these landmarks and leave them undisturbed. They were established by divine decree and were not to be encroached upon or moved.

The New Testament serves as our map today revealing God’s landmarks and boundaries. Jesus was sent not only as a sacrifice for our sins, but to point us to God’s Divine Decrees. He said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (Jn 14:6).

The very existence of sin suggests that God has issued boundaries that we are forbidden to cross. Sin is defined in John 3:4 as a transgression of the law. To transgress means to go beyond. To commit lawlessness. It is removing one of God’s boundary markers.

The Bible says that God has given to us “all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3). Our responsibilities to both God and man have been revealed. God has provided the markers and drawn the boundaries that will result in a life that both glorifies him and elevates us in moral excellence.

The means and method of our salvation in Christ have been divinely identified. The nature of the church that Jesus promised to build, of which He is the head, and its ministry, message, and mission is clearly identified in Scripture. Our spiritual responsibilities within the Family of God are also outlined in easy-to-understand terms.

In addition, our personal, community, and domestic duties are also described. God has set boundaries between the three great entities that He ordained. The home. The church. And the government. Too often these are confused and conflated with one another. They are distinct. Each has a purpose and a role in our lives.

When churches get involved in the political arena, thinking they can legislate morality and change our culture by enacting laws, they’ve forgotten the church’s mission and removed one of God’s boundaries.

When men and women commit fornication and adultery, believing they have a right to be happy and live as they please, they’ve removed God’s boundary of sexual purity.

When marriage is no longer the union of one man and one woman for life, we have redefined and removed a boundary God set up long ago.

When religious organizations, change the terms of salvation as taught by Christ and His apostles, to fit their theology, they’ve moved a Divinely ordained landmark.

As a note to our Christian readers, our corrupt culture has long ago removed the ancient landmarks. So rather than cursing the darkness, let’s light a candle. Let’s look within our own lives. Our own hearts. Our own homes. And our own churches.

Have you moved a divine landmark in your life? If so, then return it to its proper place before it’s everlastingly too late.

–Ken Weliever, The Preacherman

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

The more you invest in a set of beliefs—the greater the sacrifice you make in the service of that conviction—the more resistant you will be to evidence that suggests that you are mistaken. You don’t give up. You double down. Malcolm Gladwell

Morality may keep you out of jail, but it takes the blood of Jesus Christ to keep you out of hell. Charles H. Spurgeon.

That best portion of a good man’s life, His little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and of love.” William Wadsworth

When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.”
Thomas Edison

I have no desire to be God, but I do want to be like God. Dan Shock

Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything.” George Bernard Shaw

Revival always begins with repentance. Decision Magazine

How you treat the one reveals how you regard the many, because everyone is ultimately a one. Stephen Covey

When you see a person without a smile, give them one of yours.”
Zig Ziglar

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Selected portions of Thoughts on Life can also be read at TheLife.com.

Your feedback is welcome. Feel free to pass this along to others and to contribute your ideas and thoughts. Address all items and comments to [email protected]. © Thoughts on Life Copyright 2021

But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 1 Corinthians 12:18

I enjoy reading World War II books and just finished one about the Allied bombing in Europe. The war was not going well and attempts to wipe out the enemy were not going well. The targets were mainly airfields and aircraft manufacturing plants.

Then someone had a better idea…. knock out the ball bearing facilities. How important are ball bearings? But on second thought if something is mechanical and moves, it is probably because of ball bearings. Without ball bearings planes couldn’t fly and trucks couldn’t roll.

The military commanders suddenly realized that if they wiped out the ball bearing manufacturing they could bring the enemy to their knees… and they did just that and without ball bearings the war would grind to a halt… and it did.

The church is like that. It has many parts and there is a place and role for every person. There are many different instruments in an orchestra, and they all have different sounds. How boring it would be if the orchestra consisted of one instrument playing the same part. First violin gets all the credit, but without second violin there would be no harmony.

Just as our bodies are made up of many wonderful parts, so is a well-run church and not one, not one, is more important than the other. In my church there is a mid-life special needs lady, very limited in what she can do, but with enthusiasm she faithfully serves as a greeter with a big smile for all who enter, and they love her and in turn she shows her love for them.

In writing to the church at Corinth, Paul compares the church body with the human body and asks what would happen if some parts decided to quit because they couldn’t do the work of another part. People were wanting to leave the church because they didn’t want to do the role they were given to serve.

Paul drives home the point. Our body parts don’t choose their jobs, God does, and the church is no different. Each part is given a part for which it is designed, and all parts of the body have to work in harmony with all other parts.

His point is that the church is the same. The Holy Spirit matches each member with their gifts and goals to be used to serve the church as a whole. We don’t decide which role to play in the church, but that which we were given needs to serve not as we want but as does, none being more important than the other.

What role has God given you to serve in the church?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

7 Times Not To Speak

1. Don’t speak too much (Prov. 19:19).
2. Don’t speak when angry (Prov. 12:16).
3. Don’t speak harshly (Prov. 14:15).
4. Don’t speak before thinking (Prov 15:28).
5. Don’t speak boastfully (Prov. 17:19).
6. Don’t speak until you hear both sides (Prov. 18:17).
7. Don’t speak of things said in confidence (Prov. 20:19).

— o —
birds

“Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth!
Serve the Lord with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the Lord, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the Lord is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.” – Psalm 100 ESV

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. Harriet Beecher Stowe

My worth is not in what I own.

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it –Ronald Reagan (1986)

If you think health care is expensive now, wait until you see what it costs when it’s free! — P. J. O’Rourke

Nothing + Nothing = Nothing. Dan Shock

Love Tells the Truth Even When the Other Person Doesn’t Want to Hear It. Ken Whitten

Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. Babe Ruth

Peace comes when we turn those overwhelming issues over to God and cease trying to dictate the outcome. Dan Shock

You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. St. Augustine

Commerce is a game of skill, which every man cannot play, which few men can play well. RALPH WALDO EMERSON

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He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Mark 15:15

In a recent well publicized trial, when a juror mentioned that he prayed about his decisions in life, the judge asked if he prayed for divine guidance in making his decisions. The juror said he relied on the Holy Spirit to guide him. When the juror said yes, he was dismissed, the judge saying that jurors should decide on the evidence and not inspiration from a higher power.

After the defendant was found guilty, his attorney moved for a new trial, the court denied the motion saying that jurors should be “ordinary people.” Translated, that says that Christians are not ordinary people.

I served for twenty-one years in public office and voted thousands of times and always prayed for God’s guidance in the decisions I made. I guess that some consider the new norm that Christians are not ordinary people.

God revealed his Son to ordinary people like me who, upon experiencing the Christ Child, responded with praise to God and by sharing the good news.

Consider the parents of Jesus. From biblical accounts we gather that Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus, is a man of humble origins. He is from the line of King David, but his trade as a carpenter doesn’t allow him to live in a palace or have a high status politically or socially. In today’s terms he is the equivalent of a construction worker.

Jesus’ mother, Mary, is also of humble origins. She too descends from King David, but the picture Scripture paints is of a young teenage girl with no special status.

A second group of individuals that are introduced to the Christ Child is the shepherds.. These men of extremely humble origins are considered to be some of the lowest of the low. They are physically isolated from others because their job requires them to be constantly in the fields with their flocks.

When it comes time to announce the birth of his Son, God the Father could have introduced him to kings and queens, to the religious leaders of the day, to the socially elite or to the economically elite. Instead, God chooses to introduce his Son to a lowly band of shepherds. Upon seeing the Christ Child, Luke records that the shepherds “spread the word concerning what had been them about this child”.

Christians are ordinary people charged with an unordinary calling. Are you like an ordinary shepherd ready and willing to spread the Word?

***

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

PRAY FOR ONE ANOTHER

Author: LINDA SIENKIEWICZ

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” (James 5:16)

Praying for one another is the greatest gift we can give to our brothers and sisters in Christ and those God brings into our lives.

How many times have you had a friend or neighbor tell you about a challenge they are facing or just about their bad day?

Your first instinct might be to think of how you can help and offer your assistance to encourage them or lighten their burden. While there is nothing wrong with that, you have a much greater gift to offer that has more power and ability to help than anything you can physically do…Simply say, let me pray for you!! And, not later but now, in the moment!

It doesn’t have to be a long prayer. Just call out to God, who loves us and is waiting for us to call on Him.

When we pray for one another:

• God gives us boldness.

• He increases our love for Him and for one another.

• He rescues us, heals us, and humbles us.

• He gives us strength, lifts our burdens and uses us to lift other’s burdens.

• He spreads the Gospel.

• He answers our prayers.

Jesus never intended for us to live the Christian life alone. When we pray for one another, we lift each other up – to get through life – to get through difficulties – to get through temptation. We lift each other to the only source of real hope. We bring our burdens to God in prayer, trusting that God is good and in control of everything.

— o —

A Canadian preacher, Stephen Sheane, tells a story from two centuries ago about a military officer and his wife who were aboard a ship caught in a raging ocean storm. Seeing the frantic look in her eyes, the man tried unsuccessfully to allay her fears. Suddenly she grasped his sleeve and cried, “How can you be so calm?”

He stepped back a few feet and drew his sword. Pointing it at her heart, he asked, “Are you afraid of this?” Without hesitation, she answered, “Of course not!”

“Why not?” he inquired.

“Because it’s in your hand, and you love me too much to hurt me.”To this, he replied, “I know the One who holds the winds and the waters in the hollow of His hand, and He will surely care for us!”

***

QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Temporal excitements never last long. Dan Shock

Forgiveness is the fragrance that the violet sheds on the heel that has crushed it.” MARK TWAIN

People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are they who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and, if they can’t find them, make them. GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

In all your life, you’ve never experienced a love like the love God has for you. Dan Shock

Wherever you go, there you are. You can’t escape yourself. The Minimalist

Who knows what is best for us? We don’t know. Only God knows. Dan Shock

Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

OLIVER GOLDSMITH

Seek His face, and you will find fulfillment of your deepest longings. Jesus Calling

When you come to Jesus, your search is over, for you have then discovered God. Dan Shock

There is no finer sensations in life that which comes with victory over one’s self. Go forward to a goal of inward achievement, brushing aside all your old internal enemies as you advance.” VASH YOUNG

Invite the Lord to inspect your life. Dan Shock

Bringing a child into our fallen world has always been an act of faith. Today is no exception. Jim Denison

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children, but the sinner’s wealth is laid up for the righteous. Proverbs 13:22

Genealogy can be fascinating, especially now with so much displayed online. I have been able to trace my family all the way back to Saxony in the ninth century. I have tracked them to France, to England and to Scotland. They were on the wrong political side and were forced to come to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1620’s.

Peter Grant and others went on establish the town of Berwick in the Colony of Maine. Peter Grant was my fourth great grandfather. In the public records I found his will. It gave his testimony to his faith in Jesus Christ and spelled out his Christian beliefs, which he passed along to those who would continue in his family in the years to come. That’s me and is my inheritance from him.

Just as I am an heir to Peter Grant, likewise I am an heir to Jesus because I am adopted into his family. In Romans 8:17 Paul says, “Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.” According to this verse, we share in the sufferings of Christ now and will share in the glory of Christ later as His “co-heirs” or “joint-heirs.”

The term heirs of God emphasizes our relationship to God the Father. As His children, we have “an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade… kept in heaven” (1 Peter 1:4). The Greek term translated “heirs” in Romans 8:17 refers to “those who receive their allotted possession by right of sonship.” In other words, because God has made us His children (see John 1:12), we have full rights to receive His inheritance. We are His beneficiaries.

While I am honored to be a son of a God-believing grandfather, I am more honored to be a child of God through adoption by His on Jesus. Being a co-heir with Christ means that we, as God’s adopted children, will share in the inheritance of Jesus. All that belongs to Jesus Christ will belong to us, the co-heirs, as well.

“You are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir” (Galatians 4:7). Think of all that means. Everything that God owns belongs to us as well because we belong to Him. Our eternal inheritance as co-heirs with Christ is the result of the amazing grace of God.

The musical play, Annie, contains a wonderful illustration of becoming an heir of God. When Annie moves from the orphanage to the Warbucks’ Mansion, it’s an incredible change for her. She leaves behind a spiteful, alcoholic caretaker and enters a relationship with a caring father. She goes from having no possessions to having a fortune at her disposal. The hard-knock life is overcome by the brightness of a sunny tomorrow. Seen from a Christian perspective, Annie pictures what being a co-heir with Christ means. “We share in His sufferings in order that we may also share in His glory” (Romans 8:17).

No earthly inheritance could ever compare with our heavenly inheritance received by accepting Him as Lord and Savior and being an heir of Christ.

***

SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

Thoughts to Live By:

All good friends were once strangers.

Big things often have small beginnings.

Lost time is never found again.

You’re worth more than you know.

I’m so very proud of you.

Don’t be busy; Instead, be productive.

Every problem has a creative solution.

With God all things are possible.

— o —

WARNING: Sugarcoating the Gospel may fill church, but it will not get people to Christ!

***

QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Political discourse fails to recognize that discussions on abortion ignore the fact that a new life is at stake in every decision that is made. Dwight Short

Tolerance and apathy are the last virtues of a dying society. Aristotle

You may pride yourself in your accomplishments or successes. But mark this, when you see a proud man, you see a man who has not yet encountered God. Dan Shock

What good is the warmth of summer, without the cold of winter to give it sweetness.” John Steinbeck

Our faith as a Christian is being eroded by our culture. Os Guinness

To be a Christian without prayer is like living without breathing. Michelle Tellone

Be defined by your destiny. Os Guinness

Do something for a month and you establish a short-term habit but do it for three months and you establish a long term habit. Ken Boa

We need to be defined by things above, not things below. Ken Boa

You can live by the world or you can live by the Word. Ken Boa

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus

Look full in His wonderful face

And the things (the thing) of earth will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.”

Back in the days when I was flying airplanes, I always had a point … a point to land when the flight was over. It might be a thousand miles away or it might be right back where I started, but it was a point. I had a flight plan to get there. Sometimes I would have to make in-flight corrections to deviate around bad weather. Sometimes I had to compensate strong winds by flying a course slightly off course. But there was always the point.

When I go hunting, I have a point that often has a rack of horns on it. My point is to hit the animal. Sometimes I have to compensate for the drop of the bullet, depending on the distance traveled. Sometimes when the animal is running, I have to aim for where it is going to be when the bullet travels the distance. But there is always the point, a point of contact.

People go through life with points, not always good ones. They decide where they want to be and then figure out how to get there.

Unfortunately, many Christians miss the point of their faith. They come to church just to get their ticket punched and go on about their secular stiving for their secular points. They go about their schedules and the world’s demands. God gave us a beautiful life to be used wisely.

We should keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, taking time to pray, to dive into scriptures and to turn to Jesus continually throughout the day so that He can guide our steps. Keeping our eyes upon Jesus means turning away from a world that urges us to do more, be more and doesn’t want us to focus on Jesus, but on all the outwardly things. Every day we should surrender to God’s agenda and accept that His grace is sufficient enough.

In Exodus 3, Moses was doing something mundane, tending someone else’s flock, when he encountered the burning bush. At that point he made an intentional decision: “I will now turn aside,” he said. If he had been heading to a meeting with eyes glued to his smart phone, he might have missed that declaration of the divine in the ordinary, and thereby missed God’s call to him. When I keep looking for my burning bush, strain my divine lens of the ordinary, I find God turning my ordinary into extraordinary, declaring His divine each day and giving it His purpose.

What is your point?

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

If we are “the salt of the earth” and “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:13–14), why is our salt and light not doing more to season and enlighten our culture? Why, in fact, are churches and Christian institutions sometimes the problem more than the solution?

— o —

SIX WORDS TO ENCOURAGE AND SHARE

• You are doing a great job.
• This is your year to shine.
• Don’t wait for opportunity. Create it.
• What you do has greater impact than what you say.

— Stephen Covey

— o —

THOUGHTS TO LIVE BY

• You got to nourish to flourish.
• Every end is a new beginning.
• Dreams don’t work unless you do.
• Moments give birth to new memories.
• Happiness is always an inside job.
• Live like there is no tomorrow.
• Fall seven times; stand up eight.
• With great power comes great responsibility.

— o —

WARNING: Sugarcoating the Gospel may fill church, but it will not get people to Christ!

***

QUOTES YOU CAN USE

• Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities.” DALE CARNEGIE
• If you add anything to Jesus, you actually take away something from Jesus. Ken Whitten
• We have to be careful where we focus our attention. Dan Shock
• Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. HELEN KELLER
• Sometimes, when God’s voice breaks through and He gives us a warning about something we are about to do, we say, “Thanks, Lord, but I don’t need any help there. I know what I’m doing.” The truth is, we don’t know what we are doing. And we do need His help.
• The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26
• A man never discloses his own character so clearly as when he describes another’s.
• You set the table and God brings the people. Martha Moore
• The only mistake is the one from which we learn nothing. Henry Ford
• Life on earth is short, eternity somewhere is forever
• “A man who fears suffering is already suffering from what he fears,” once observed the 16th century French statesman and author Michel de Montaigne.
• Jesus is the bridge between God and man. Dan Shock
• We shouldn’t judge people by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character. Martin Luther King, Jr.

It was 1943 and the young lady lived happily in Greece with her family. She was a Jew. Her name was Garmaine……… Garmaine Pitchon.

One day there was a knock at her door and strangers told the family that they would be in danger if they remained in Greece, so they were being relocated to a place where they would be safe. They were told to board a train, where they were packed in unsanitary conditions for their long ride to their ultimate destination ….. Auschwitz.

Recently I had the privilege of walking those train tracks into the station where they were told to get off the train and were separated into groups. Within about ninety minutes most were forced to strip naked and sent into a giant shower, only there were no shower heads, only gas. With tears in my eyes, I have stood in the “shower” where more than a million Jews were gassed.

Of those who for various reasons were not gassed, they suffered tremendous atrocities. Garmaine had to watch her grandmother shot in the head before she went to Cell Block #10, where those chosen for medical experimentation were housed.

Carl Clauberg experimented with sterilization in the camp. Part of Block No. 10 was put at his disposal. Several hundred Jewish women in Block No 10 were used for his “medical” experiments. Clauberg developed a method of non-surgical sterilization that consisted of introducing into the female reproductive organs a specially prepared chemical irritant that produced sever inflammation. Within weeks, the fallopian tubes grew shut and were blocked. Clauberg’s experiments killed some of his subjects and others were put to death so that autopsies could be performed.

They were searching for a convenient means of mass sterilization that would enable the Third Reich to carry out the biological destruction of conquered nations by “scientific methods” by depriving people of their reproductive capacity.

Then it was Garmaine’s turn to present herself for sterilization. Once on the table, the German doctor made an incision and removed one of her ovaries. As he was about to do the other, there was suddenly an Allied air attack and the doctor ran for personal protection. A Jewish doctor, also a prisoner who was shortly later exterminated was forced to assist in the medical procedures. Before leaving, the German doctor commanded the Jewish doctor to finish the procedure on Garmaine.

As he began to do so, he leaned over and whispered to Garmaine, telling her that he had to make an incision to look like he had done the procedure, but he stopped short of any removal. He told Garmaine to do two things, first to disguise any monthly evidence that would show she was not sterilized and secondly he said “When you have your first baby, think of me.” That first baby is my now close friend Sol Pitchon, who came to America and surrendered his life to Christ and dedicated his life to saving babies, as he believed God had saved him “for such a time as this.”

Working in crisis pregnancy centers for the past nearly 25 years, Sol has saved the lives of more than ten thousand babies who would otherwise have been aborted and he continues to do so.

That’s why God saved the life and reproduction ability of Garmaine so Sol would be born to her and save the lives of so many others!

The ultimate way God turns what was meant for evil into good is through the gospel of Jesus Christ. Sin does not glorify God. But God uses sin for his glory by saving us from sin. … Therefore when we allow God’s grace to redeem us from our sins, God is turning what was meant for evil into good.

Thank you God. Thank you Sol.

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SOMETIMES TRUE STORIES

COVETNESS:

The only thing we should covet is a closer relationship with God. The Bible tells us that covetousness is idolatry. That’s because the thing you desire becomes the central focus of your heart and mind. All your waking hours are spent scheming ways to get that thing for yourself.

The Bible says we are to covet just one thing. “But covet earnestly the best gifts (of the Spirit)” (1 Corinthians 12:31 KJV). The only thing we should covet is a closer relationship with God. If you are going to crave anything at all, crave the power of God’s Spirit working freely and fully in your life.

— o —

Minimalism is the intentional promotion of the things we most value and the removal of anything that distracts us from it. It requires a conscious decision because it is a countercultural lifestyle that stands against the culture of overconsumption that surrounds us.

The world we live in is not friendly to the pursuit of minimalism. Its tendencies and relentless advertising campaigns call us to acquire more, better, faster, and newer. The journey of finding simplicity requires consistent inspiration.

For that reason, I hope you will make an effort this weekend to find a quiet moment with a cup of coffee or tea and enjoy some of these hand-picked articles to encourage more simplicity in your life.

— The Minimalist

— o —

Pixar Animation Studios has become perhaps the most preeminent name in children’s entertainment. They have been a mainstay at the Oscars for more than two decades and, this year, developed two of the five movies nominated for Best Animated Feature Film. Soul took home the award, becoming the eleventh such Pixar property to do so.

The success of their recent offerings is not the only reason they are in the news today, however.

Last week, word began to circulate that they were looking to cast someone to voice the character Jess in an upcoming project. Jess is described as someone who is “compassionate, funny, and always has your back.” They are looking to for a 12–17-year-old who is “enthusiastic, outgoing, funny, and energetic” who also feels “comfortable acting in front of a microphone” and can “authentically portray a 14-year-old transgender girl.”

If that last part caught you by surprise, that’s kind of the point.

—Ryan Denison

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QUOTES YOU CAN USE

Following after emptiness only makes you empty. – Dan Shock

If you want to fly, you have to give up everything that weighs you down. – Toni Morrison

The circumstances you face aren’t nearly important as the conclusions you draw. – Pastor Ken Whitten

No work we undertake will be of any value, unless the Lord is with us. – Dan Shock

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Giving to the Lord should be the greatest joy and the greatest happiness that you know. Anything I offer to God must come from a willing heart if it’s to have any value.

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

If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools. – Plato

St. Augustine noted, “God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.

EVERYTHING IS TRAINING FOR SOMETHING. – Men of Iron

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul – and sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all. – Emily Dickinson

I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship. – Louisa May Alcott