Sunday, May 30, 2010

From Mrs. Okie Preacher

This weekend & every chance you get please thank our men & women in uniform for their service & sacrifice for our freedom. If you know a veteran please thank them. We enjoy the fruits of freedom & liberty because of what our military has given to us! Please tell them you are praying for them & their families.

I would add that we make a special effort to stop and pray for those who have lost loved ones during past wars or the current ones. God bless them.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Chuck Swindoll on Tipping

Proverbs 22:9

I feel like starting with the words the nurse says as she approaches your bed with one hand behind her back: "This won't take long, but it may sting a little."

Are you aware of what waiters and waitresses say about the Christians they serve? Do you have any idea how much they dread waiting on our tables in restaurants after church on Sundays? Or any other day when we go in groups with big Bibles under our arms? We gobble up the chow, asking for this favor and that, seldom pausing long enough to smile or say, "Thank you." That's bad enough, but then we leave a tip that is more of an insult than a generous expression of gratitude.

Just last week a waiter informed me that the place where he works has the toughest time getting a full crew to wait tables on Sunday. "We'd all rather work late Friday and Saturday nights week after week than work Sunday afternoons," he said.

When I asked why, he told me.

"Because Christians are usually loud, they often lack good table manners, and they are stingy with the tips."

The waiter who spoke to me is a Christian. He's on our side. And he's embarrassed. Says he has a tough time talking to the crew about Christ after the place closes at night. They give him this cynical "You gotta be kidding!" response that comes after six or eight of Christ's followers walk away, leaving a tract and a dollar bill. Or maybe just a tract. Sometimes, neither.

If you're among the thoughtful, the gracious, the kind who leave a full 15 percent or more, keep it up. May your tribe increase. But if you're the type who falls into the tightfisted and less than thoughtful category, how about thinking of your witness as something more than a Bible in your pocket and words out of your mouth? Sometimes it's what comes out of your pocket after something has gone into your mouth . . . and I'm not referring to a tract. Listen: "It is possible to give away and become richer! It is also possible to hold on too tightly and lose everything. Yes, the liberal man shall be rich! By watering others, he waters himself" (Prov. 11:24-25, TLB).

C'mon, Christian, loosen up. If you can afford to eat out, you can also handle a healthy tip. Maybe all you needed was a shot in the arm.

There's no doubt about it. Actions often speak much louder than words. What are your actions saying?

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Just had to post this by Spurgeon

Hebrews 12:11: "Afterward..."

How happy are tried Christians, afterwards. No calm more deep than that which succeeds a storm. Who has not rejoiced in clear shinings after rain? Victorious banquets are for well-exercised soldiers. After killing the lion we eat the honey; after climbing the Hill Difficulty, we sit down in the arbour to rest; after traversing the Valley of Humiliation, after fighting with Apollyon, the shining one appears, with the healing branch from the tree of life. Our sorrows, like the passing keels of the vessels upon the sea, leave a silver line of holy light behind them "afterwards." It is peace, sweet, deep peace, which follows the horrible turmoil which once reigned in our tormented, guilty souls. See, then, the happy estate of a Christian! He has his best things last, and he therefore in this world receives his worst things first. But even his worst things are "afterward" good things, harsh ploughings yielding joyful harvests. Even now he grows rich by his losses, he rises by his falls, he lives by dying, and becomes full by being emptied; if, then, his grievous afflictions yield him so much peaceable fruit in this life, what shall be the full vintage of joy "afterwards" in heaven? If his dark nights are as bright as the world's days, what shall his days be? If even his starlight is more splendid than the sun, what must his sunlight be? If he can sing in a dungeon, how sweetly will he sing in heaven! If he can praise the Lord in the fires, how will he extol Him before the eternal throne! If evil be good to him now, what will the overflowing goodness of God be to him then? Oh, blessed "afterward!" Who would not be a Christian? Who would not bear the present cross for the crown which cometh afterwards? But herein is work for patience, for the rest is not for to-day, nor the triumph for the present, but "afterward." Wait, O soul, and let patience have her perfect work."

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

The Time is Now

1 Peter 1:3-5: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time."

Sunday, May 9, 2010

The Trial of Faith

1 Peter 1:6-7: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

“Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment of extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions.” (Matthew Henry)

“Even in the wildest storms the sky is not all dark; and so in the darkest dealings of God with His children, there are always some bright tokens for good.” (Robert Murray M'Cheyne)

“Every wise workman takes his tools away from the work from time to time that they may be ground and sharpened; so does the only-wise Jehovah take his ministers oftentimes away into darkness and loneliness and trouble, that he may sharpen and prepare them for harder work in his service.” (Robert Murray M'Cheyne)

(If through faith you have placed your eternal destiny in the loving hands of Jesus Christ, you can be sure that God is at work, shaping the events and circumstances of your life into a beautiful mosaic that will reveal His Son to the men and women around you. His hand is on you, as it has been since before you were born.” (Chuck Smith)

Saturday, May 1, 2010

Prayer for a Friend

Please pray for my friend today as he speaks at a memorial service. I cannot share the details, but ask that you would pray.