All posts by SandyM

The Good OF The Thorn

Suffering

Sandra felt as low as the heels of her shoes as she pushed against a November gust and the florist shop door. Her life had been easy, like a spring breeze. Then in the fourth month of her second pregnancy, a minor automobile accident stole her ease. During this Thanksgiving week she would have delivered a son. She grieved over her loss. As if that weren’t enough, her husband’s company threatened a transfer. Then her sister, whose annual holiday visit she coveted, called saying she could not come. What’s worse, Sandra’s friend infuriated her by suggesting her grief was a God-given path to maturity that would allow her to empathize with others who suffer. “She has no idea what I’m feeling,” thought Sandra with a shudder. “Thanksgiving? Thankful for what?” she wondered aloud. For a careless driver whose truck was hardly scratched when he rear-ended her? For an airbag that saved her life but took that of her child? “Good afternoon, can I help you?” The shop clerk’s approach startled her. “I… I need an arrangement, “stammered Sandra. “For Thanksgiving? Do you want beautiful but ordinary, or would you like to challenge the day with a customer favorite I call the Thanksgiving Special?” asked the shop clerk. “I’m convinced that flowers tell stories,” she continued. “Are you looking for something that conveys ‘gratitude’ this Thanksgiving? “Not exactly!” Sandra blurted out. “In the last five months, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong. ” Sandra regretted her outburst, and was surprised when the shop clerk said, “I have the perfect arrangement for you. Then the door’s small bell rang, and the shop clerk said, “Hi Barbara…let me get your order.” She politely excused herself and walked toward a small workroom, then quickly reappeared, carrying an arrangement of greenery, bows, and long-stemmed thorny roses. Except the ends of the rose stems were neatly snipped…there were no flowers. “Want this in a box?” asked the clerk. Sandra watched for the customer’s response. Was this a joke? Who would want rose stems with no flowers!?! She waited for laughter, but neither woman laughed. “Yes, please,” Barbara replied with an appreciative smile. “You’d think after three years of getting the special, I wouldn’t be so moved by its significance, but I can feel it right here, all over again,” she said as she gently tapped her chest. “Uhh,” stammered Sandra, “that lady just left with, uhh… she just left with no flowers!” “Right… I cut off the flowers. That’s the Special… I call it the Thanksgiving Thorns Bouquet. “Oh, come on, you can’t tell me someone is willing to pay for that?” exclaimed Sandra. “Barbara came into the shop three years ago feeling very much like you feel today,” explained the clerk. “She thought she had very little to be thankful for. She had lost her father to cancer, the family business was failing, her son was into drugs, and she was facing major surgery.” “That same year I had lost my husband, “continued the clerk,” and for the first time in my life, I had to spend the holidays alone. I had no children, no husband, no family nearby, and too great a debt to allow any travel. “So what did you do?” asked Sandra. “I learned to be thankful for thorns,” answered the clerk quietly. “I’ve always thanked God for good things in life and never thought to ask Him why those good things happened to me, but when bad stuff hit, did I ever ask! It took time for me to learn that dark times are important. I always enjoyed the ‘flowers’ of life, but it took thorns to show me the beauty of God’s comfort. You know, the Bible says that God comforts us when we’re afflicted, and from His consolation we learn to comfort others. “Sandra sucked in her breath as she thought about the very thing her friend had tried to tell her. “I guess the truth is I don’t want comfort. I’ve lost a baby and I’m angry with God.” Just then someone else walked in the shop. “Hey, Phil!” shouted the clerk to the balding, rotund man. “My wife sent me in to get our usual Thanksgiving arrangement… twelve thorny, long-stemmed stems!” laughed Phil as the clerk handed him a tissue-wrapped arrangement from the refrigerator. “Those are for your wife?” asked Sandra incredulously. “Do you mind me asking why she wants something that looks like that? “No…I’m glad you asked,” Phil replied. “Four years ago my wife and I nearly divorced. After forty years, we were in a real mess, but with the Lord’s grace and guidance, we slogged through problem after problem. He rescued our marriage. Jenny here (the clerk) told me she kept a vase of rose stems to remind her of what she learned from “thorny” times, and that was good enough for me. I took home some of those stems. My wife and I decided to label each one for a specific “problem” and give thanks to Him for what that problem taught us.” As Phil paid the clerk, he said to Sandra, “I highly recommend the Special!” “I don’t know if I can be thankful for the thorns in my life.” Sandra said to the clerk. “It’s all too… fresh.” “Well,” the clerk replied carefully, “my experience has shown me that thorns make roses more precious. We treasure God’s providential care more during trouble than at any other time. Remember, it was a crown of thorns that Jesus wore so we might know His love. Don’t resent the thorns.” Tears rolled down Sandra’s cheeks. For the first time since the accident, she loosened her grip on resentment. “I’ll take those twelve long-stemmed thorns, please,” she managed to choke out. “I hoped you would,” said the clerk gently. “I’ll have them ready in a minute.” “Thank you. What do I owe you?” asked Sandra. “Nothing.” said the clerk. “Nothing but a promise to allow God to heal your heart. The first year’s arrangement is always on me. “The clerk smiled and handed a card to Sandra. “I’ll attach this card to your arrangement, but maybe you’d like to read it first.” It read: “Dear God, I have never thanked you for my thorns. I have thanked you a thousand times for my roses, but never once for my thorns. Teach me the glory of the cross I bear; teach me the value of my thorns. Show me that I have climbed closer to you along the path of pain. Show me that, through my tears, the colours of your rainbow look much more brilliant.”

Syrenthia Anderson Submitted by: Michael W Jones Email address: bdbc(at)our-town.com
Quoted from sermons.com email list

Four People Who Had Very Unusual Names

Responsibility, Sketches

Once upon a time there were four people who had very unusual names. I’d like to introduce the people to you.
This is ‘Everybody”
Here is ‘Somebody’.
This is ‘Anybody’.
And last, I’d like you to meet ‘Nobody’.
At the time our story begins, Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody all lived together in the same house. They all got along well together and each did their share of the work. But one day there was a very important job to be done, and then the trouble started.
Everybody said ‘Somebody will do it’.
Now Anybody could have done it, but in the end Nobody did it.
Somebody became very angry and said ‘It’s Everybody’s job!’
But Everybody said ‘Anybody should have done it!’
Nobody knew that Everybody wouldn’t do it.
In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody because Anybody could have done the very important job, but Nobody did it.

Baiting The Hook

Sin, Temptation

In his book, Death by Love: Letters from the Cross (Crossway), Marc Driscoll writes: “You can learn a basic principle of how your enemy works. The great Puritan Thomas Brooks wrote one of my favorite books on spiritual warfare, Precious Remedies against Satan’s Devices. Brooks uses a wonderful illustration that explains why Jesus rejected Satan’s simple offer of bread.

“Brooks says our Enemy will bait our hook with anything we find desirable. This means he will gladly give us sex, money, power, pleasure, fame, fortune and relationships. Satan’s goal is for us to take the bait without seeing the hook, and once the hook is in our mouth he then reels us in to take us captive. His gifts are often very good things offered for sinful uses. He’ll challenge us to examine the gift to ensure its quality. That is the essence of the trap. The gift may be
good, but the giver is evil. In this way, Satan and demons are akin to a pedophile who seeks to entice children into trust with gifts of candy and toys, only to destroy them.

“When we take the gifts Satan and demons give, we are in essence biting down on the bait. As a result, the hook of sin is in our mouth, and Satan reels us in as his captive so that, as Jesus says in John 8:34, we become slaves to our sin.”
Quoted from ‘Preaching Now’ email

Definition of Sin

Sin

“Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself.”
Susanna Wesley – Letter to her son John Wesley – June 8, 1725

Sin Is Expensive

Sin

“Sin is the most expensive thing in the universe… If it is forgiven sin, it cost God His only Son… If it is unforgiven sin, it cost the sinner his soul and an eternity in hell.”
Charles G Finney – Quoted from A Box of Delights J. John & Mark Stibble

Slav Folk Tale

Sin

A Slav folk tale tells the story of men who once visited a holy man to ask his advice. “We have done wrong actions,” they said, “and our consciences are troubled. What must we do to be forgiven?”
“Tell me of your wrong doings my sons,” said the old man.
The first man said, “I committed a great and grevious sin.”
“I have done a number of wrong things,” said the second man, “but they are all quite small, and not at all important.”
“Go,” said the holy man, “and bring me a stone for each misdeed.”
The first man staggered back with an enormous boulder. The second cheerfully brought a bag of small pebbles.
“Now,” said the holy man, “go and put them back where you found them.”
The first man shouldered his great rock again, and staggered back to the place from which he had brought it. But the second man could only remember where a very few of his pebbles had lain. He came back saying that the task was too difficult.
“Sins are like those stones,” said the old man. “If a man has committed a great sin, it lies like a heavy stone on his conscience; yet if he is truly sorry, he is forgiven and the load of guilt is taken away. But if a man is constantly doing small things that he knows to be wrong, he does not feel any great load of guilt, and so he is not sorry, and remains a sinner. Do you see, my sons, it is as important to avoid little sins as big ones.”
1500 Illustrations for Preaching & Teaching – Pub Marshall Pickering

Psychoanalysed

Sin

I went to the psychiatrist to be psychoanalysed
To find out why I killed the cat and blackened my husband’s eyes.
He laid me on a downy couch to see what he could find,
And here is what de dredged up from my subconscoius mind:
When I was one, my mommie hid my dollie in a trunk,
And so it follows naturally that I am always drunk.
When I was two, I saw my father kiss the maid one day,
And that is why I suffer now from kleptomania.
At three, I had the feeling of ambivalence towards my brothers,
And so it folllows naturally I poison all my lovers.
But I am happy; now I’ve learned the lesson this has taught;
That everything I do that’s wrong is someone eals’s fault.
Drive the point home, G Twelftree, p 174

Dear Sir

Sin

There was a famous correspondance in The Times under the title of ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ Probably the most penetrating of all the letters was from G.K. Chesterton:
Dear Sir
I am
Your sincerely,
G.K. Chesterton.
That is precisely the answer. The heart of the human problem is the problem of the heart. People have a variety of theories about ‘what is wrong with the world?’ but no one can truthfully answer the question until he can say eith honesty, ‘Dear Sir, I am.’
Christ described human nature in these words; ‘From the inside , out of man’s heart come evil thoughts, acts of fornication, of theft, murder, adultery, ruthless greed and malice; fraud, indecency, envy, slander, arrogance, and folly; these evil things all come from inside, and they defule a man. (Mk 7:21-23)
David Watson, My God is Real, p26

Now Stop For A Moment

Sin

I put my congregation through this exercise once to help them become more aware of the tendency of Indwelling Sin to blind and deceive us (and to illustrate why we all need to be open and respond more humbly to correction):
Close your eyes and picture someone you know who…
1. Has got a significant fault or area of self-deception.
2. You’ve tried to talk to them about it, maybe others have, but they don’t see it.
3. It’s not easy to talk to them about it, because of the way they react.
4. They haven’t begun to change, even a little (but why should that be a surprise they don’t even see their sin?)
5. You care about them, but you’ve become frustrated because of their hardness of heart.
6. Can you see this person?
Now stop for a moment and think…it’s quite possible someone in this auditorium is thinking about you.

Holy Land Tour

Sheep, Shepherd

A pastor was taking a group of parishioners on a tour of the Holy Land. He had just read them the parable of the good shepherd and was explaining to them that, as they continued their tour, they would see shepherds on the hillsides just as in Jesus’ day.

He wanted to impress the group, so he told them what every good pastor tells his people about shepherds. He described how, in the Holy Land, shepherds always lead their sheep, always walking in front to face dangers, always protecting the sheep by going ahead of them.

He barely got the last word out when, sure enough, they rounded a corner and saw a man and his sheep on the hillside.

There was only one problem: the man wasn’t leading the sheep as the good pastor had said. No, he was behind the sheep and seemed to be chasing them. The pastor turned red.

By Rev. Keenan Kelsey Quoted from www.wfa.org/newsletter/archive/2003/0320_030516/0320_030516.html

Crafty Sheep Conquer Cattle Grid

Sheep

Hungry sheep on the Yorkshire moors have taught themselves to roll 8ft (3m) across hoof-proof metal cattle grids – and raid villagers’ valley gardens. The crafty animals have also perfected the skill of hurdling 5ft (1.5m) fences and squeezing through 8in (20cm) gaps. They have destroyed several gardens and even graze on the village park, bowling green, cricket field and graveyard. The grids were installed 10 years ago after a gardener in Marsden, near Huddersfield, held stray sheep hostage. Dorothy Lindley, a Conservative councillor in the former textile town on the edge of the Pennine uplands in West Yorkshire, said: “They lie down on their side, or sometimes their back, and just roll over and over the grids until they are clear. “I’ve seen them doing it. It is quite clever but they are a big nuisance to villagers. “They eat plants, flowers and vegetables in gardens. “It is soul destroying. “Registered commoners”, who can claim rights of open grazing going back to medieval times, pasture the sheep on moorland owned by the National Trust. Mrs Lindley added: “What amazes us is they are not frightened. “When you try to move them on they look at you as if to say it is their patch and you are not right in the head. “You can shout at them and even if they see a dog they are not frightened. “Several drivers have had to swerve to avoid hitting the animals and damaged their cars or been given a terrible shock. “What we really need is more fencing to stop them. But they would probably find another way out before long. “They must find more tastier morsels down here.” A National Farmers’ Union spokeswoman in York said: “We have never seen anything like it. “We have looked at ways of improving the situation but it is very difficult. The grids are substantial bits of kit.” A National Sheep Association spokeswoman said: “Sheep are quite intelligent creatures and have more brainpower than people are willing to give them credit for.”
BBC News 30th July 2004: news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3938591.stm

David Bowie

Sex

In a recent Daily Mail interview the aging legend David Bowie conceded; “If there is one thing I could say to 13 and 14 year old’s it’s this; ‘Take care with your sexual choices because never before have sex and death been so powerfully linked.'”.
Soul Survivor Magazine Aug 1997 p3 – Duncan Banks

One Partner For Life

Sex

Delegates and experts at the last World AIDS Conference in the USA were asked two simple questions. Firstly, would you use a condom to guarantee protection from both pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases? The unanimous answer was NO.
The second was to ask what they would do. The reply was fascinating. They suggested sticking with one partner for life. Wow! This came as a shocking revelation to the world press even though God’s word has always seggested this as the best way to live (Matt 19:4-6)
Soul Survivor Magazine Aug 1997, p3 – Duncan Banks

I Can Be Like You Whenever I Want

Sex

I did some schools work in Kent recently and met a young christian girl who had decided that “virgin” wasn’t a dirty word and that she was going to stay that way until her wedding day. However, the pressure was on. She was often made the butt end of jokes and had to listen to her classmates’ stories of their sexual conquests. In the end she got a “holy strop” on and said to them, “You don’t understand do you? I can be like you whenever I want, but you can never be like me!” It’s more of that crusading spirit we need to stand strong!
Soul Survivor Magazine Aug 1997 – Duncan Banks, p3

Christian Themes In School

Sex

Mrs. Johnson the Christian school math teacher was having children do problems on the blackboard. She was constantly trying to incorporate Christian themes in the classroom, but was having trouble making it work for math until she got some unexpected help from a student.
“Who would like to do the first problem, addition?”
No one raised their hand. She called on Tommy, and with some help he finally got it right.
“Who would like to do the second problem, subtraction?”
Students hid their faces. She called on Mark, who got the problem but there was some suspicion his girlfriend Lisa whispered it to him.
“Who would like to do the third problem, division?”
Now a low collective groan could be heard as everyone looked at nothing in particular. The teacher called on Suzy, who got it right
“Who would like to do the last problem, multiplication?”
Johnny’s hand enthusiastically shot up. It surprised everyone in the room because he had previously been avoiding participation. The teachers finally gained her composure in the stunned silence.
“Why the enthusiasm, Johnny?” He said, “The Bible says to go forth and multiply!”

Driving Her Rolls Royce

Sex, Temptation

An affluent, aristocratic woman reviews resumes from potential chauffeurs to drive her Rolls Royce. She narrows the applicants to three men and invites them to her palatial home. She escorts each one individually to her driveway and the brick wall beside it. Then she asks, “If you were driving my Rolls, how close do you think you could come to that brick wall without scratching my car?”
The first applicant says, “I can drive within a foot of that wall and not damage your Rolls.”
She brings out the second applicant and asks “If you were driving my Rolls, how close do you think you could come to that brick wall without scratching my car?”
He scratches his head and says, “I can drive within six inches of that wall and not damage your car.”
She invites the third applicant and asks, “If you were driving my Rolls, how close do you think you could come to that brick wall without scratching my car?”
He does not hesitate: “Ma’am, I do not know how close I could come to the wall without damaging your car, but if I was driving your car, I would stay as far away as possible from the wall so as not to damage your car.”
Guess who got the job?
When addressing sexual temptation, the point is not how close one can get to the temptation without getting “scratched,” but staying as far away as possible.
Tim Wilkins’ Cross Ministry

Letter From Summer Scoutcamp

Scouts

Dear Mom,

Scoutmaster Webb told us to write our parents in case you heard about the flood and got worried. We’re all OK. Only one of our tents and two of our sleeping bags got washed away. Nobody drowned because we were all on the mountain looking for Chad when it happened. Oh yeah, please call Chad’s mother and tell her he’s OK. He can’t write her because of the cast on his arm.

I got to ride in one of the search and rescue jeeps! It was neat! We never would have found him in the dark if it hadn’t been for all the lightning.

Scoutmaster Webb got mad at Chad for going on a hike alone without telling anyone. Chad said he did tell him, but it was during the fire, so he probably didn’t hear him.

Did you know that if you put gas on a fire, the gas can will blow up? It was so cool! The wet wood still wouldn’t burn, but one of our tents did, and some of our clothes. Boy, Johnny is going to look weird until his hair grows back!

We’ll be home Saturday if Scoutmaster Webb gets the car fixed. It wasn’t his fault about the wreck. The brakes worked when we left, but he said with a car that old you have to expect something to break down. That’s probably why he can’t get insurance. We think it’s a neat car. He doesn’t care if we get it dirty, and if it’s hot, sometimes he lets us ride on the tailgate. It gets pretty hot with 15 people in the car. He let us take turns riding in the trailer until the policeman stopped and yelled at him.

This morning all of the guys were diving off the rocks and swimming out in the lake. Scoutmaster Webb wouldn’t let me because I can’t swim, and Chad was afraid he would sink because of his cast, so he let us take the canoe across the lake. It was great. You still can see some of the trees under the water from the flood. Scoutmaster Webb isn’t crabby like some Scoutmasters. He didn’t even get mad about us leaving the life jackets behind. He has to spend a lot of time working on the car, so we’re trying not to cause him any trouble.

Guess what? We passed our First Aid merit badges. When Dave dove in the lake and cut his arm, we got to see how a tourniquet works. Also, Wade and I threw up. Scoutmaster Webb said it probably was just food poisoning from the leftover chicken. He said they got sick like that with the food they ate in prison. I’m so glad he got out and became our Scoutmaster. He said he figured out how to do things better while he was doing time.

I have to go now. We are going into town to mail this and buy some bullets and more gasoline. Don’t worry about anything. We are doing just fine.

Love,
Your son

Salt: A Big History

Salt

Salt is incredibly valuable. In an agricultural it was essential to preserve fish, meat, vegetables and even mummies!
Roman soldiers were paid in salt, salt had the same value ounce for ounce as gold.