- Noah was a drunk.
- Abraham was too old.
- Isaac was a daydreamer.
- Jacob was a liar.
- Leah was ugly.
- Joseph was abused.
- Moses had a stuttering problem.
- Gideon was afraid.
- Samson had long hair and was a womanizer.
- Rahab was a prostitute.
- Jeremiah and Timothy were too young.
- David had an affair and was a murderer.
- Elijah was suicidal.
- Isaiah preached naked.
- Jonah ran from God.
- Naomi was a widow.
- Job went bankrupt.
- John the Baptist ate bugs.
- Peter denied Christ.
- The Disciples fell asleep while praying.
- Martha worried about everything.
- The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once.
- Zaccheus was too small.
- Paul was too religious.
- Timothy had an ulcer.
AND...
- Lazarus was dead!
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
God Can Use You!
The next time you feel like God can't use you, just remember...
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
The Empty Birdcage?
One
Easter Sunday morning, a pastor came to the Church carrying a rusty, bent, old
bird cage, and set it by the pulpit. Several eyebrows were raised and, as if in
response, the pastor began to speak.
"I
was walking through town yesterday when I saw a young boy coming toward me,
swinging this bird cage. On the bottom of the cage were three little wild
birds, shivering with cold and fright. I stopped the lad and asked, "What
you got there son?"
"Just
some old birds," came the reply.
"What
are you gonna do with them?" I asked.
"Take
'em home and have fun with 'em. I'm gonna tease 'em and pull out their feathers
to make 'em fight. I'm gonna have a real good time."
"But
you'll get tired of those birds sooner or later. What will you do then?"
"Oh,
I got some cats. They like birds. I'll take 'em to them."
The
pastor was silent for a moment. "How much do you want for those birds,
son?"
"Huh??!!!
Why, you don't want them birds, mister. They're just plain old field birds.
They don't sing - they ain't even pretty!"
"How
much?"
The
boy sized up the pastor as if he were crazy and said, "$10?".
The
pastor reached in his pocket and took out a ten dollar bill. He placed it in
the boy's hand. In a flash, the boy was gone.
The
pastor picked up the cage and gently carried it to the end of the alley where
there was a tree and a grassy spot. Setting the cage down, he opened the door,
and by softly tapping the bars persuaded the birds out, setting them free.
Well,
that explained the empty bird cage on the pulpit, and then the pastor began to
tell this story.
One
day Satan and Jesus were having a conversation. Satan had just come from the
Garden of Eden, and he was gloating and boasting.
"Yes,
sir, I just caught the world full of people down there. Set me a trap, used
bait I knew they couldn't resist. Got 'em all!"
"What
are you going to do with them?" Jesus asked.
"Oh,
I'm gonna have fun! I'm gonna teach them how to marry and divorce each other.
How to hate and abuse each other. How to drink and smoke and curse. How to
invent guns and bombs and kill each other. I'm really gonna have fun!"
"And
what will you do when you get done with them?", Jesus asked.
"Oh,
I'll kill 'em."
"How
much do you want for them?"
"Oh,
you don't want those people. They ain't no good. Why, you take them and they'll
just hate you. They'll spit on you, curse you and kill you!! You don't want
those people!!"
"How
much?"
Satan
looked at Jesus and sneered, "All your tears, and all your blood."
Jesus paid the price.
The
pastor picked up the cage he opened the door and he walked from the pulpit.
Monday, April 3, 2017
The Love Of Jesus
Author Unknown
Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at their church, the
Pastor and his 11-year-old son would go out into their town and hand out
Gospel tracts. This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the
Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very
cold outside as well as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his
warmest and driest clothes and said "Okay Dad, I'm ready."
His Pastor Dad asked, "Ready for what?
"Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out."
Dad responds, "Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring down rain."
The boy gives his Dad a surprised look, asking, "But Dad, aren't people
still going to Hell, even though it's raining?"
Dad answers, "Son, I am not going out in this weather."
Despondently the boy asks, "Dad, can I go -- Please?"
His father hesitated for a moment then said, "Son, you can go. Here's
the tracts; be careful son."
"Thanks, Dad!" And with that he was off and out into the rain. This
11-year-old boy walked the streets of the town going door-to-door and
handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel tract. After 2-hours of
walking in the rain he was soaking bone-chilled wet and down to his very
last tract. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a
tract to but the streets were totally deserted.
Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk
to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell -- but nobody
answered. He rang it again and again bit still no one answered. He
waited but still no answer. Finally this 11-year-old trooper turned to
leave but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang
the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited,
something holding him there on the front porch. He rang again, and this
time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway was a very sad
looking elderly lady.
She softly asked, "What can I do for you, son?"
With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy
said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you
that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU! I came to give you my very last Gospel
tract which will tell you all about Jesus and His great love." With that
he handed her his last tract, and turned to leave.
She called to him as he departed, "Thank you, son! And God bless you!"
Well, the following Sunday morning in church, Pastor Dad was in the
pulpit and as the service began he asked, "Does anybody have a testimony
or want to say anything?"
Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her
feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her
face. "None of you in this church know me. I've never been here before.
You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband has passed
on, some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday,
being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart
as I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will
to live.
"So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic
of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then
stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my
neck. "Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted, I was about
to leap off when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs
startled me. I thought, 'I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go
away.' "I waited and waited -- but the ringing doorbell seemed to get
louder and more insistent and then the person ringing also started
knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this
be?! Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me!' "I loosened the rope
from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang
louder and louder. When I opened the door and looked I could hardly
believe my eyes! "There on my front porch was the most radiant and
angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life! His smile! Oh, I could
never describe it to you! And the words that came from his mouth caused
my heart, that had long been dead, to leap to life as he exclaimed with
cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY
DOES LOVE YOU.' "Then he gave me this Gospel tract that I now hold in my
hand. As the little angel disappeared back out, into the cold and rain,
I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel tract. Then I
went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them
any more.
"You see, I am now a happy child of the KING, and since the address of
your church was on the back of this Gospel tract I have come here to
personally say, 'Thank you to God's little angel who came just in the
nick of time, and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in Hell.'"
There were now no dry eyes in the church. As shouts of praise and honor
to the KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad
descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was
seated. He took him in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.
Probably no church has had a more glorious moment and probably this
Universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love and honor
for his son, except for one: This Father, God, also allowed His Son,
Jesus, to go out into a cold and dark world. He received His Son back
with joy unspeakable, and as all of Heaven shouted praises and honor to
the King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above all
principality and power and every name that is named. There may be
someone, reading this, who is also going through a dark, cold and lonely
time in your soul. You may be a Christian, for we are not without
problems, or you may not yet know the King. Whatever the case, and
whatever the problem or situation you find yourself in, and no matter
how dark it may seem, I want you to know that I just came to tell you,
"JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU!"
Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at their church, the
Pastor and his 11-year-old son would go out into their town and hand out
Gospel tracts. This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the
Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very
cold outside as well as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his
warmest and driest clothes and said "Okay Dad, I'm ready."
His Pastor Dad asked, "Ready for what?
"Dad, it's time we gather our tracts together and go out."
Dad responds, "Son, it's very cold outside and it's pouring down rain."
The boy gives his Dad a surprised look, asking, "But Dad, aren't people
still going to Hell, even though it's raining?"
Dad answers, "Son, I am not going out in this weather."
Despondently the boy asks, "Dad, can I go -- Please?"
His father hesitated for a moment then said, "Son, you can go. Here's
the tracts; be careful son."
"Thanks, Dad!" And with that he was off and out into the rain. This
11-year-old boy walked the streets of the town going door-to-door and
handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel tract. After 2-hours of
walking in the rain he was soaking bone-chilled wet and down to his very
last tract. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a
tract to but the streets were totally deserted.
Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk
to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell -- but nobody
answered. He rang it again and again bit still no one answered. He
waited but still no answer. Finally this 11-year-old trooper turned to
leave but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang
the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited,
something holding him there on the front porch. He rang again, and this
time the door slowly opened. Standing in the doorway was a very sad
looking elderly lady.
She softly asked, "What can I do for you, son?"
With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy
said, "Ma'am, I'm sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you
that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU! I came to give you my very last Gospel
tract which will tell you all about Jesus and His great love." With that
he handed her his last tract, and turned to leave.
She called to him as he departed, "Thank you, son! And God bless you!"
Well, the following Sunday morning in church, Pastor Dad was in the
pulpit and as the service began he asked, "Does anybody have a testimony
or want to say anything?"
Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her
feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her
face. "None of you in this church know me. I've never been here before.
You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband has passed
on, some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday,
being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart
as I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will
to live.
"So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic
of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then
stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my
neck. "Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted, I was about
to leap off when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs
startled me. I thought, 'I'll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go
away.' "I waited and waited -- but the ringing doorbell seemed to get
louder and more insistent and then the person ringing also started
knocking loudly. I thought to myself again, 'Who on earth could this
be?! Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me!' "I loosened the rope
from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang
louder and louder. When I opened the door and looked I could hardly
believe my eyes! "There on my front porch was the most radiant and
angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life! His smile! Oh, I could
never describe it to you! And the words that came from his mouth caused
my heart, that had long been dead, to leap to life as he exclaimed with
cherub-like voice, 'Ma'am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY
DOES LOVE YOU.' "Then he gave me this Gospel tract that I now hold in my
hand. As the little angel disappeared back out, into the cold and rain,
I closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel tract. Then I
went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn't be needing them
any more.
"You see, I am now a happy child of the KING, and since the address of
your church was on the back of this Gospel tract I have come here to
personally say, 'Thank you to God's little angel who came just in the
nick of time, and by so doing, spared my soul from an eternity in Hell.'"
There were now no dry eyes in the church. As shouts of praise and honor
to the KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad
descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was
seated. He took him in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.
Probably no church has had a more glorious moment and probably this
Universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love and honor
for his son, except for one: This Father, God, also allowed His Son,
Jesus, to go out into a cold and dark world. He received His Son back
with joy unspeakable, and as all of Heaven shouted praises and honor to
the King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above all
principality and power and every name that is named. There may be
someone, reading this, who is also going through a dark, cold and lonely
time in your soul. You may be a Christian, for we are not without
problems, or you may not yet know the King. Whatever the case, and
whatever the problem or situation you find yourself in, and no matter
how dark it may seem, I want you to know that I just came to tell you,
"JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU!"
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