Get Your Own Dirt

One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.

The scientist walked up to God and said, “God, we’ve decided that we no longer need you. We’re to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don’t you just go on and get lost.”

God listened very patiently and kindly to the man and after the scientist was done talking, God said, “Very well, how about this, let’s say we have a man making contest.” To which the scientist replied, “OK, great!”

But God added, “Now, we’re going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam.”

The scientist said, “Sure, no problem” and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.

God just looked at him and said, “No, no, no. You go get your own dirt!”

Mobilize to Pray

“The man who mobilizes the church to pray will have a greater impact on world evangelization than anyone in history.”

—Andrew Murray

 

 

Kids Tell the Story of Noah’s Ark

“Why was Noah chosen as the survivor of the great flood?”

• “Noah was in the navy and he knew a lot about ships.” Demetrius, age 7
• “That Noah person had connections. He knew a couple of angels personally.” Carmen, age 8
• “Noah was a leader. He had a loud voice, so the animals would listen to him when he told them to get up on the boat fast because it started to rain.” Joe, age 8

“The special instructions that God gave to Noah with regard to the Ark and the big sea voyage.”

• “Don’t hammer too loud. You’ll wake up the heavens.” Peggy, age 10
• “Just build the Ark, Noah, and the animals will come …. Trust me.” Brett, age 11
• “No, Noah, you can’t take your exercise equipment with you on the Ark. This isn’t a pleasure trip!” Natalie, age 10
• “There is no batteries included with this Ark …. So some assembly may be required, Noah.” Gil, age 12

“How did Noah and his family keep busy on the Ark for forty days and forty nights?”

• “They held three- and four-legged races.” Georgio, age 9
• “The same things as they do on the Norwegian Carnival boats you see on TV, except they couldn’t stay outside and get tans.” Christopher, age 10
• “The family did something easy like play Scrabble, and the animals played polo.” Roberta, age 8

“How did Noah first discover that the waters had dried up enough for a landing?”

• “God left a sign that said: READY FOR LANDING, NOAH. PARK THE BOAT RIGHT HERE, GOD.” Jeb, age 9
• “Whenever the ship bumped into the shore and knocked everybody down, then it was time to land.” LeToya, age 11
• “A rainbow that was shaped like an arrow pointed to where the land was.” Emilio, age 7
• “Noah hit a golf ball and it landed in a sand trap.” Cody, age 12

“When they were finally off the Ark, what were the first words of Noah and family?”

• “Thank God we don’t have to do this every year!” Barry, age 10
• “That rainbow was pretty …. I hope it doesn’t have to rain again for forty days and nights before we can see it again.” Anita V., age 7

“What did the rainbow symbolize for God in his communication with future generations?”

• “That God was a supporter of drawing and the arts.” Clare, age 10
• “A rainbow is a celebration in heaven. When it rains, God is crying and when it thunders, God is yelling at the angels. But a rainbow is more like a holiday.” Sheila, age 9
• “Rainbows always mean: ‘Everything is going to be okay from now on.’ “ Janet, age 10

From Just Build the Ark and the Animals Will Come By David Heller

Everything I Really Needed to Know I Learned from Noah’s Ark

1. Plan ahead. It wasn’t raining when Noah built the ark.
2. Stay fit. When you’re 600 years old, someone might ask you to do something REALLY big.
3. Don’t listen to critics—do what has to be done.
4. Build on the high ground.
5. For safety’s sake, travel in pairs.
6. Two heads are better than one.
7. Speed isn’t always an advantage. The cheetahs were on board, but so were the snails.
8. If you can’t fight or flee—float!
9. Take care of your animals as if they were the last ones on earth.
10. Don’t forget that we’re all in the same boat.
11. When the doo-doo gets really deep, don’t sit there and complain– shovel!
12. Stay below deck during the storm.
13. Remember that the ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic was built by professionals.
14. If you have to start over, have a friend by your side.
15. Remember that the woodpeckers INSIDE are often a bigger threat than the storm outside.
16. Don’t miss the boat.
17. No matter how bleak it looks, there’s always a rainbow on the other side.

[Author Anonymous]

We’re What?

‘Dear Lord,’ the minister began, with arms extended toward heaven and a rapturous look on his upturned face. ‘Without you, we are but dust…’ He would have continued but at that moment my very obedient daughter who was listening leaned over to me and asked quite audibly in her shrill little four year old girl voice, ‘Mom, what is butt dust?’

Ignored Instructions

Chuck Yeager, the famed test pilot, was flying an F-86 Sabre over a lake in the Sierras when he decided to buzz a friend’s house near the edge of the lake. During a slow roll, he suddenly felt his aileron lock. Says Yeager, “It was a hairy moment, flying about 150 feet off the ground and upside down.”

A lesser pilot might have panicked with fatal results, but Yeager let off on the G’s, pushed up the nose, and sure enough, the aileron unlocked. Climbing to 15,000 feet, where it was safer, Yeager tried the maneuver again. Every time that he rolled, the problem reoccurred.

Yeager knew three or four pilots had died under similar circumstances, but to date, investigators were puzzled as to the source of the Sabre’s fatal flaw. Yeager went to his superior with a report, and the inspectors went to work. They found that a bolt on the aileron cylinder was installed upside down.

Eventually, the culprit was found in a North American plant. He was an older man on the assembly line who ignored instructions about how to insert that bolt, because, by golly, he knew that bolts were supposed to be placed head up, not head down. In a sad commentary, Yeager says that nobody ever told the man how many pilots he had killed.”

The Accountability Connection (Victor Books, 1992), story from Chuck Yeager, Yeager, (Bantam, 1985)

Astronauts Who Found God—A Spiritual View of Space

BreakPoint Commentary – November 5, 1998

By Charles W. Colson

 

Astronaut, John Glenn’s return to outer space 36 years after his awe-inspiring orbit around the earth is a reminder of the kind of heroism that makes space exploration possible. What author, Tom Wolfe called the “right stuff.”What you may not know, however is

that for many of the early astronaut heroes, the “right stuff” included deep religious faith. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin are best known as the first astronauts to land on the moon and take that “giant leap for mankind.” But you probably don’t know that before they emerged from the spaceship, Aldrin pulled out a Bible, a silver chalice, and sacramental bread and wine. There on the moon, his first act was to celebrate communion.

 

Frank Borman was commander of the first space crew to travel beyond the Earth’s orbit. Looking down on the earth from 250,000 miles away, Borman radioed back a message, quoting Genesis 1: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.” As he later explained, “I had an enormous feeling that there had to be a power greater than any of us—that there was a God, that there was indeed a beginning.”

 

The late James Irwin, who walked on the moon in 1971, later became an evangelical minister. He often described the lunar mission as a revelation. In his words, “I felt the power of God as I’d never felt it before.”

 

Charles Duke, who followed Irwin to the moon, later became active in missionary work. As he explained, “I make speeches about walking ON the moon and walking WITH the Son.”Guy Gardner is a veteran astronaut who speaks in churches on the reality of God.

 

What is it about being in space that seems to spark our innate religious sense? Two centuries ago the philosopher Immanuel Kant said there are two things that “fill the mind with ever new and increasing admiration and awe: the starry heavens above me and

the moral law within me.” Reflections about these things, Kant wrote, lead our minds to contemplate God Himself—the moral law revealing His goodness, the heavens revealing His power.

 

As the psalmist put it: “The heavens declare the glory of God.”Or as John Glenn put it just a few days ago as he observed the heavens and earth from the windows of Discovery: “To look out at this kind of creation and not believe in God is to me impossible. It just strengthens my faith.”

 

Many of us have thought that science is antagonistic to faith. Yet most of the great figures who shaped the scientific enterprise from the beginning have been devout believers-people like Blaise Pascal, who invented the first calculator; Isaac Newton, who discovered the law of gravity; and James Maxwell, who formulated the laws of electromagnetism. All were Christians who felt that the study of nature did not challenge their faith but rather strengthened it.

 

And that’s exactly what space exploration can do in the lives who take part in it.If you’re watching the Discovery mission with unsaved friends, explain to them how over the decades space travel has provided an unexpected dividend. Astronauts who powerfully encountered the God who created the heavens and the earth.

 

 

 

Everything from nothing?

Shortly after NASA’s COBE satellite gave us the most distant images from space in history, Ted Koppel, of NBC’s “Nightline”, questioned Robert Kirshner (chairman of Harvard’s department of astronomy) on the significance of these amazing photographs by asking a question about the beginning of the universe:

TED KOPPEL: The Big Bang theory (says that) something tiny exploded into the reality of everything large that exists in the universe today. Now, how does that work?

ROBERT KIRSHNER: (after a lot of not answering the question)…The basic picture is that the universe that we see today is very old, and had come from a state which was very different than we see around us today.

TED KOPPEL: (not satisfied with Kirshner’s answer, brought it up again at the end of the program) In the 40 or 50 seconds that we have left. Professor Kirshner, you want to try another crack at that first question, how we get everything out of next to nothing?

ROBERT KIRSHNER: No, I don’t think that’s the question I really want to answer. That’s the one I want to evade…

See Michael D. Lemonick, “Echoes of the Big Bang,” Time, May 4, 1992, 62–63; and “ABC News Nightline,” transcript 2850, April 24, 1992; quoted in Bibliotheca Sacra, Volume 149, Number 596, October-December 1992, pgs. 426-427.

From the Church Readerboard

• “Free Trip to heaven. Details Inside!”

• “Try our Sundays. They are better than Baskin-Robbins.”

• “Searching for a new look? Have your faith lifted here!”

• An ad for St. Joseph’s Episcopal Church has a picture of two hands holding stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments are inscribed and a headline that reads, “For fast, fast, fast relief, take two tablets.”

• “Have trouble sleeping? We have sermons – come hear one!”

• “People are like tea bags – you have to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are.”

• “Come in and pray today. Beat the Christmas rush!”

• “Fight truth decay – study the Bible daily.”

• “How will you spend eternity – Smoking or Non-smoking?”

• “Dusty Bibles lead to Dirty Lives”

• “Come work for the Lord. The work is hard, the hours are long and the pay is low. But the retirement benefits are out of this world.”

• “It is unlikely there’ll be a reduction in the wages of sin.”

• “Do not wait for the hearse to take you to church.”

• “If you’re headed in the wrong direction, God allows U-turns.”

• “This is a ch_ _ch. What is missing?” (U R)

• “In the dark? Follow the Son.”

• “Running low on faith? Stop in for a fill-up.”

• “If you can’t sleep, don’t count sheep. Talk to the Shepherd.”

 

Anonymous

 

In The Arena

“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena; whose face is marred by the dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions and spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best, knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly; so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.”

Teddy Roosevelt speaking at the Sorbonne in 1910.

 

Seeking God?

“Most people today are looking for the church that has the right music, the right programs and the answers for all of their problems … unfortunately all of that seems more important to them than seeking God!”

—Larry Crabb

 

Battle of the Mind

Standard operating procedure for the Vietnamese was to try to break their prisoners mentally. To do this, hour after hour they would pump propaganda into the prisoners’ cells via radio, loud speakers, and interrogators. Telling them that the United States government was a government of monsters…that the U.S. military had already forgotten them…that they were listed as killed in action and that no attempt whatsoever was being made to free them…that their families were no longer concerned about them…that their families didn’t want to wait for them to get out of prison…that their wives had already divorced them and remarried. The POW’s able to resist this type of brainwashing were those who caught these lies in midair, slammed them to the ground, and kicked them out of their minds. They would remind themselves of the truth, forcing themselves to cling to it, and answer every lie with a corresponding truth. No, they haven’t forgotten me! No, they haven’t given me up as dead…they will come back and get me…no, that isn’t true. It’s a propaganda ploy…my wife hasn’t remarried anyone else. She still loves me. She’s going to wait for me till I get out. By focusing on their inner world and clinging tenaciously to truth, these men were able not only to survive a brutal captivity but also, after their release, to put the war behind them, pick up their lives, and again become productive and happy members of society. Their battle was not just physical; it was a battle of the mind and spirit.

What You Need To Know About Spiritual Warfare, by Max Anders, Thomas Nelson: Nashville, pp. 76-77

 

Mark 17

A minister told his congregation, “Next week I plan to preach aboutthe sin of lying. To help you understand my sermon, I want you all to read Mark 17.” The following Sunday, as he prepared to deliver his sermon, the minister asked for a show of hands. He wanted to know how many had read Mark 17. Every hand went up. The minister smiled and said, “Mark has only sixteen chapters. We will now proceed with my sermon on the sin of lying.”

Anonymous

Stumble over the Truth

“Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most of them pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing had happened.”

—Winston Churchill

 

Remember

“Much of what the Bible demands can be comprised in one word: Remember!”

—Abraham Joshua Herschel

Launch Out

When Abram and Sarai didn’t see God’s promise fulfilled in the time they expected, they took matters into their own hands, and Abram had intercourse with Hagar. They opted for the child of human calculation over the child of God’s promise. Ishmael was the result, “a wild donkey of a man” (Gen. 16:12), at war with everyone.

I think prayerless churches have fathered many Ishmaels in their history, with the most visible result being their shameful divisions. As Ishmael mocked Isaac, the practical deists will mock those who prayerfully wait for the child of promise as ethereal and impractical, hopelessly out of touch with the real world. God was patient with all who were involved in the fiasco then: Abram and Sarai, Hagar and Ishmael. He waited until they learned to wait, and finally gave them what he had promised. I pray he will continue to do so with us.

…Since the best teacher of prayer is the Holy Spirit, the best way to learn to pray is by praying. Whether, and how much we pray is, I think, finally a matter of appetite, of hunger for God and all that he is and desires. C. S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory: “We are far too easily pleased.” That, in the end, is the reason we do not pray more than we do. Nothing less than infinite joy is offered us in God’s kingdom of light. He has promised that we will one day shine like the sun in that kingdom (Matt. 13:43).

We have become satisfied with mere church, mere religious exertion, mere numbers and buildings—the things we can do. There is nothing wrong with these things, but they are no more than foam left by the surf on the ocean of God’s glory and goodness. There are things way out in the depths that only God can give us. They can be ours only if we launch out in our little prayer boats and learn to sail, even one day walk, on those waters.

Bon voyage, my friend.

Patterson, B., & Goetz, D. L. (1999). Vol. 7: Deepening your conversation with God. The pastor’s soul series; Library of leadership development (172–173). Minneapolis, Minn.: Bethany House Publishers.

Nothing and Everything

“God does everything through people who understand they are nothing, and God does nothing through people who think they are everything.”

— Tullian Tchividjian

(http://www.outreachmagazine.com/people/4070-Tullian-Tchividjian-Coral-Ridge-Presbyterian-Church-Fort-Lauderdale-Fla.html)

What Love Means

SLAVERY “Servant” in our English New Testament usually represents the Greek doulos (bondslave). Sometimes it means diakonos (deacon or minister); this is strictly accurate, for doulos and diakonos are synonyms. Both words denote a man who is not at his own disposal, but is his master’s purchased property. Bought to serve his master’s needs, to be at his beck and call every moment, the slave’s sole business is to do as he is told. Christian service therefore means, first and foremost, living out a slave relationship to one’s Savior (1 Cor. 6:19-20). What work does Christ set his servants to do? The way that they serve him, he tells them, is by becoming the slaves of their fellow-servants and being willing to do literally anything, however costly, irksome, or undignified, in order to help them. This is what love means, as he himself showed at the Last supper when he played the slave’s part and washed the disciples’ feet. When the New Testament speaks of ministering to the saints, it means not primarily preaching to them but devoting time, trouble, and substance to giving them all the practical help possible. The essence of Christian service is loyalty to the king expressing itself in care for his servants (Matt. 25:31-46). Only the Holy Spirit can create in us the kind of love toward our Savior that will overflow in imaginative sympathy and practical helpfulness towards his people. Unless the spirit is training us in love, we are not fit persons to go to college or a training class to learn the know-how or particular branches of Christian work. Gifted leaders who are self-centered and loveless are a blight to the church rather than a blessing.

Your Father Loves You by James Packer, Harold Shaw Publishers, 1986, Page 3.

One Shot

IF I HAD MY LIFE TO LIVE OVER by Erma Bombeck

I would have gone to bed when I was sick instead of pretending the earth would go into a holding pattern if I weren’t there for the day.

I would have burned the pink candle sculpted like a rose before it melted in storage.

I would have talked less and listened more.

I would have invited friends over to dinner even if the carpet was stained, or the sofa faded.

I would have eaten the popcorn in the ‘good’ living room and worried much less about the dirt when someone wanted to light a fire in the fireplace.

I would have taken the time to listen to my grandfather ramble about his youth.

I would have shared more of the responsibility carried by my husband.

I would never have insisted the car windows be rolled up on a summer day because my hair had just been teased and sprayed.

I would have sat on the lawn with my children and not worried about grass stains.

I would have cried and laughed less while watching television—and more while watching life.

I would never have bought anything just because it was practical, wouldn’t show soil, or was guaranteed to last a lifetime.

Instead of wishing away nine months of pregnancy, I’d have cherished every moment and realized that the wonderment growing inside me was the only chance in life to assist God in a miracle.

When my kids kissed me impetuously, I would never have said, “Later. Now go get washed up for dinner.”

There would have been more “I love you’s”.. more “I’m sorry’s” but mostly, given another shot at life, I would seize every minute…look at it and really see it .. live it…and never give it back.

Stop sweating the small stuff. Don’t worry about who doesn’t like you, who has more, or who’s doing what. Instead, let’s cherish the relationships we have with those who do love us. Let’s think about what God HAS blessed us with. And what we are doing each day to promote ourselves mentally, physically, emotionally, as well as spiritually.

Life is too short to let it pass you by. We only have one shot at this and then it’s gone.

The Idea

I asked God to grant me patience. God said, No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations; it isn’t granted, it is earned.

I asked God to give me happiness. God said, No. I give you blessings. Happiness is up to you. 

I asked God to spare me pain. God said, No. Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.

I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune you to make you fruitful. 

I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, No. I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.

I ask God to help me LOVE others, as much as he loves me. God said… Ahhhh, finally you have the idea.